The Search for the Northwest Passage 9780231897273

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T H E

S E A R C H

N O R T H W E S T

F O R

T H E

PASSAGE

THE

SEARCH

FOR

THE

NORTHWEST PASSAGE BY

N E L L I S M. C R O U S E

COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY PRESS N E W YORK:

MORNINGSIDE M C M Χ Χ Χ IV

HEIGHTS

COPYRIGHT

I 934

COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY PUBLISHED

I934

P R I N T E D IN T H E U N I T E D S T A T E S OF T H E C A Y U G A PRESS ·

PRESS

AMEBICA

I T H A C A , NEW YORK

To the memory of DANIEL AND WATSON

and to CATHERINE AND H E L E N

This book is affectionately inscribed

C O N T E N T S I . T H E O R I E S AND P R E L I M I N A R Y V O Y A G E S II.

I

ROSS'S F I R S T V O Y A G E AND B U C H A N ' S V O Y A G E

39

III.

PARRY'S FIRST VOYAGE

79

IV.

P A R R Y ' S SECOND V O Y A G E

119

FRANKLIN'S FIRST OVERLAND EXPEDITION

159

PARRY'S THIRD VOYAGE

215

V. VI. VII.

VIII. IX.

X.

XI. XII. XIII.

FRANKLIN'S

SECOND

OVERLAND

EXPEDITION,

AND L Y O N ' S V O Y A G E

245

ROSS'S SECOND V O Y A G E

289

T H E J O U R N E Y S OF B A C K , A N D OF S I M P S O N A N D DEASE

337

F R A N K L I N ' S L A S T V O Y A G E , AND E A R L Y

RELIEF

EXPEDITIONS

375

MCCLURE'S VOYAGE

413

T H E F A T E OF S I R J O H N F R A N K L I N AMUNDSEN'S VOYAGE

.

.

.

.

455 479

NOTES

511

BIBLIOGRAPHY

519

INDEX

525

I L L U S T R A T I O N S

A N D

H . M . S H I P S H E C L A A N D G R I P E R IN W I N T E R

M A P

HARBOUR

Frontispiece C U T T I N G INTO W I N T E R I S L A N D , O C T O B E R , 1 8 2 1

134

P O S I T I O N OF H . M . S . I N V E S T I G A T O R ON S E P T E M B E R 2 0 , 1851 T H E F O X S T E A M I N G OUT OF T H E R O L L I N G P A C K M A P OF T H E A R C T I C R E G I O N S

434 .

.

466 534

I T H E O R I E S AND P R E L I M I N A R Y

VOYAGES

THEORIES AND PRELIMINARY

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VOYAGES

OR more than three centuries the discovery of the Northwest Passage acted as the principal lure to Arctic navigators. Beginning with John Cabot, who first conceived the idea of reaching Asia by sailing westward over a northern route, generation after generation of hardy seamen hurled their ships against the well-nigh impenetrable barriers of ice that blocked the road to Cathay. There is, perhaps, no phase of exploration in the entire history of discovery that gives a more superb picture of human endurance in the face of privations than the exploits of Arctic pioneers. Those who explored regions situated in more temperate climes were, indeed, forced to contend with the hardships peculiar to the countries they visited, as well as with certain ailments from which the Arctic explorer was comparatively free; but travelers in the Polar latitudes were obliged not only to overcome the natural obstacles that impeded their progress, but to face the long Arctic night with its attendant period of inaction, more trying to the spirit than to the body. For months at a time they found their ships frozen in between great walls of ice that held them in their tenacious grip until a belated spring set them free. I t was a period of interminable waiting, passed amidst the dreary wastes of ice and snow, a period of frightful cold and piercing winds, a period of darkness, relieved only by the moon and the northern lights. Then, when the sun finally reached its maximum height, and the surrounding ice had broken up, a few short weeks were granted them in which they could pursue their search or return home. But often, during the Arctic summer, the warmth was not suffiIbi

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cient to clear the channel, and the explorers found themselves, at the end of the season, embayed in the ice a few miles from their previous winter quarters. Such were the experiences of the navigators in the polar regions during the nineteenth century, the period in which our narrative lies. John C a b o t , as we have hinted, was the pioneer of the Northwest Passage. When he started on his first voyage in 1497 he did not have a passage as his objective, for the existence of a continental barrier stretching across the route to Asia was at that time unknown; he was merely attempting, like Columbus, to reach the East by sailing west. T h e data concerning his two voyages are indeed meager; but if scholars are correct in their interpretation of them, his second journey probably led him to discover the coast of the American continent from Labrador to Florida, a stretch of shore line he may well have mistaken for that of Asia itself. A s time went on, and navigators of various nations tried their skill at finding a route to C a t h a y , it became known that across this route lay a great continental barrier, extending from the Arctic to the tropics. Its width, however, was unknown. T h e n began a series of bold undertakings, sent out by different sovereigns, for the purpose of uncovering a passage through this barrier. English and French sailors, and to a lesser extent Spanish and Portuguese, drove their vessels up and down the coast, exploring every b a y , inlet or river's mouth that appeared to offer access to the Pacific Ocean. A s it is not our purpose to narrate the attempts to find a passage made by such famous explorers as Cartier, Frobisher and Hudson during the first three centuries after the discovery of America, we shall content ourselves with a brief summary of the knowledge of the northern waters accumulated by various navigators up to the middle of the eighteenth century, when the search for the passage was temporarily abandoned. 1

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Those who started out from England to discover a northern passage to Asia found before them a choice of three routes. As early as the reign of Henry V I I I an enterprising Englishman named Robert Thome, who was then living in Spain where he had picked up an acquaintance with Sebastian Cabot, wrote a pamphlet in which he suggested the feasibility of reaching Cathay by sailing directly over the Pole. Nothing was done about this scheme at the time, and in fact it does not seem to have been taken seriously; but in the year 1607 Henry Hudson, sailing under the auspices of the Muscovy Company, made his way up the eastern side of Greenland to the seventy-third parallel, where he was blocked by the ice and forced to abandon what it was hoped would be a route over the Pole. This was the first route. The second route lay along the northern coast of Asia, and was known as the Northeast Passage. Against the barriers of this ocean trail Sir Hugh Willoughby and his successors hurled themselves in vain, for it was a favorite plan of the Muscovy Company to open a communication with the Far East in this direction. It was finally abandoned when Hudson failed to negotiate it on his second voyage. With the elimination of two of the three possible leads, there remained but one, the Northwest Passage. This in turn may be subdivided into two channels, both of which were explored, and, both in the course of time, abandoned. First, the route through Davis Strait offered an inviting prospect to the navigator seeking open water to the northwest. This channel was discovered in 1585 by the intrepid Elizabethan seaman whose name it bears; but his government, little realizing that here lay the entrance to the Northwest Passage, paid no further attention to this opening (with the one noteworthy exception of Baffin's expedition) after Davis had brought his voyages to a close. Secondly, the discovery of Hudson Bay by Henry Hudson twenty-five years later turned the eyes of [[si

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the sea captains, and of the powerful N o r t h w e s t C o m p a n y that was backing them, to the promising lead through H u d son Strait. Fortunately the Northwest C o m p a n y employed in its service William Baffin, one of the ablest and most scientific pilots of his day. Baffin, after a v o y a g e to Hudson B a y that led him nowhere, was dispatched b y his employers to try his luck through D a v i s Strait, for thanks to the failure of their seamen to solve the problem b y w a y of Hudson's great discovery, they decided on a venture through the opening found by John Davis. Passing through the strait, Baffin sailed up the eastern shore of the great b a y beyond it which now bears his name, and returning down its western side passed the opening which eventually proved to be the entrance to the passage, but which he mistook for an inlet and called Lancaster Sound. So accurate was his s u r v e y , and so conclusive his unfavorable report of a possible thoroughfare in this region, that for two centuries all hope of reaching the Pacific through Baffin B a y was given up. T h u s the one possible route of all those now under discussion w a s set aside. T h e bay opened up by Henry Hudson g a v e two possible avenues to the Pacific: one was F o x Channel, leading to that great archipelago of gigantic islands lying north of the American continent, while the other was merely a possible communication with the Pacific somewhere along the western shore of the bay. Fifteen years after the v o y a g e of William Baffin, Captain L u k e Foxe, who has left us his journal under the whimsical title Northwest Foxe, or Foxe from the Northwest Passage, was dispatched on an expedition to find a route through Hudson Strait. He was preceded b y a few days b y William James, a navigator sent on the v e r y same errand, though the two voyages were separately financed. Foxe penetrated the channel as far as the Arctic Circle, hugging its eastern shore, while his rival skirted the western shore line, sailing up Southampton Island to latitude 65 o 30'. T h o u g h

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neither was successful, the two brought back to England diametrically opposite opinions on the feasibility of making a passage in this locality. On the strength of the tidal observations he had made at the entrance to Roe's Welcome, Foxe maintained, despite his failure, the strong possibility of finding near there a passage to the Pacific. James, on the other hand, could not see, in the tidal disturbances he had noticed, any such promising indications. With the return of Foxe and James, interest in the bay died out, for they had also reconnoitered its western side; and no other expedition was sent there, indeed no vessel entered it, until the Hudson's B a y Company settled factories along its shores. The Hudson's B a y Company evinced no interest in the discovery of a northwest passage, although by its charter of incorporation (1670) it was bound to make at least a show of attempting further search. In the course of time, as the company expanded, there were loud criticisms of the management for its alleged failure to live up to the terms of the charter, criticisms arising rather from the envy which a prosperous enterprise always excites than from any particular interest in a passage. The company, therefore, in order to placate public opinion, sent a few vessels to plod along the western shore of Hudson Bay. These ships returned presently with a little information regarding the geography of the region, but, of course, without a solution of the problem. A t this point an Irish engineer, named Arthur Dobbs, took the matter in hand, and urged the sending of an expedition to investigate the possibilities offered by the inlets indenting the coast line recently explored by the vessels of the company. At his suggestion, two ships were dispatched under one Captain Middleton in 174a. They sailed northward in the bay to the gulf known as the Wager River and, after having visited this arm of the sea, also explored Roe's Welcome. The unfavorable report brought back by Captain Middleton

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angered his employer, and the latter accused his sailing master of having deceived him. Dobbs by this time had become so obsessed with the possibilities of the Wager R i v e r that he sent out another expedition to pursue further investigations in this locality. The report brought back by the commander of this venture was, of course, the same as that of his predecessor, and so the last of the routes to the Pacific was closed. The expedition to the Wager River marks the end of the first phase of the search for the Northwest Passage. U p to this time the impelling motive behind all these expeditions had been a desire to find a shorter route to the E a s t for commercial purposes; but with the return of the ships sent to the Wager River the impracticability of a northern route as an avenue of trade, even if such a route could be found, became patent to all. In the past there had been many rumors of a successful negotiation of the passage, circulated both by persons who reported distorted accounts they honestly believed and by questionable adventurers with ulterior motives. Chief among these stories were the legends of J u a n da Fuca and Admiral de Fonte, who were credited with having sailed from the Pacific to the Atlantic by a strait, or by a series of waterways, extending from somewhere in British Columbia to the neighborhood of Baffin B a y . An overland voyage undertaken by Samuel Hearne in 1 7 7 1 from the mouth of the Churchill River, on the western shore of Hudson B a y , to the mouth of the Coppermine, a stream flowing into the Arctic Ocean near the hundred and fifteenth meridian, settled for all time the question of a passage in this locality. When, after the fall of Napoleon, scientists and navigators again turned their attention to the problem, commercial intercourse with the East no longer formed the motivating power behind their expeditions; the solution of the mystery of the North was now but a scientific problem appealing to the adPI

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venturous. Bering Strait was discovered in 1728, and to reach it from the A t l a n t i c now became the absorbing problem to which the explorers applied themselves, instead of searching for the mythical channels of Juan da Fuca and Admiral de Fonte. Before the search for the passage was again taken up in earnest, during the nineteenth century, there was a brief recrudescence of interest in the subject that flared up j u s t before the W a r of American Independence. T h e Honorable Daines Barrington, a l a w y e r of considerable prominence in his d a y , who had published an authoritative work on jurisprudence called Observation on the Statutes, was blessed with a versatile type of mind. Besides his legal knowledge, he possessed a fund of information on natural history, and had taken a keen interest in matters pertaining to the Arctic. Collecting all available information on the practicability of navigating the Polar Sea, he presented the Council of the R o y a l Society with the fruit of his investigations in the early part of the year 1773. Barrington's plan was, in brief, nothing more than a revival of the scheme proposed by Robert T h o m e , far back in the d a y s of Henry V I I I , to attempt a passage to the E a s t b y sailing northward over the Pole. Previous expeditions had failed, so Barrington believed, because, being directed to the northwest, they had met with land barriers, but to the north there was open sea through which one might sail, for the Polar climate was milder than was generally supposed; and to prove his point he submitted to the Council the reports he had gathered of navigators who had ventured far to the north. T h e Council was impressed by the possibilities of the scheme and immediately wrote the Earl of Sandwich, First Lord of the Admiralty, urging him to take the necessary steps for dispatching an expedition.

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I am directed by the President and Council of the Royal Society [wrote the secretary], to represent to your Lordship that they have lately had under their consideration the probability of navigation being practicable nearer to the North Pole, than has been generally imagined; and that there is room to hope, that a passage by or near the North Pole to the E a s t Indies may be thereby found out. A n d as a voyage made towards the North Pole might be of service to the promotion of natural knowledge, the proper object of their institution, they cannot but be much interested in the prosecution of the same. T h e y , therefore, beg to leave to recommend it to your Lordship, who has always shown such readiness in promoting science and geographical knowledge, whether it might not be proper to take some steps towards the making such discovery.*

The Admiralty was quick to take up the suggestion. T w o ships were at once selected: one, the Racehorse, carrying a crew of ninety men; the other, a ship which bore the amusing name of Carcass, with a complement of eighty. While the authorities were looking about for a suitable officer to command the expedition, a young man of about thirty years of age applied for the position and was promptly accepted. He was Constantine John Phipps (later I^ord Mulgrave) a naval officer who had seen considerable service, though he had never ventured into the higher latitudes. In addition to his naval career, Phipps had entered politics and held a seat in the House of Commons. Phipps received his commission on April 19, 1773, and promptly hoisted his pennant to the masthead of the Racehorse, while the command of her consort was given to one Skeffington Lutwidge. Two Greenland pilots were enlisted to navigate the vessels through the intricacies of the ice fields, and Israel Lyons, the astronomer, was made a member of the party to insure the proper use of the elaborate scientific instruments with which the expedition was equipped. Horatio Nelson, then but a lad of fifteen, also served on this voyage. Phipps was provided with a commission ordering him to proceed as far as possible toward the Pole, sailing as nearly upon the same (M

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meridian as circumstances might permit, and taking in the meanwhile all such observations as might add to scientific knowledge. But in no case was he to proceed beyond the Pole should he reach it, for he was to be back at the Nore before the beginning of winter. Evidently this was a reconnoitering expedition sent out for the purpose of ascertaining the possibility of forcing a passage over the North Pole, and not an attempt to navigate the passage itself. The vessels weighed anchor at the Nore on the fourth of June and, sailing northward by the Shetland Islands, found themselves on the twentieth within the Arctic Circle. Here Phipps sounded and found no bottom after paying out 780 fathoms of line. To the sounding lead he had attached a thermometer of special construction, which registered a temperature at that depth twelve degrees colder than the temperature of the air. An apparatus for distilling salt water was now tried and found successful, as it yielded from thirty to forty gallons a day. For a few days the vessels sailed along through fog, snow and rain, though the air was by no means cold, until on the twenty-eighth they came in sight of Prince Charles Island off the western coast of Spitzbergen. The weather now cleared, giving the crew ample opportunity to inspect the rocky shores of the island as they sailed along its coast. B y the third of July they reached the northern extremity of the island called North Foreland, and stood into a small bay, where they came to anchor and sent a boat ashore to make astronomical observations. On getting under way again, they ran across a Greenland ship from whose commander they learned that the main ice field was about ten leagues beyond Hakluyt's Headland, the northwestern extremity of Spitzbergen. As the weather was thick, the next day Phipps ordered the studding sails to be taken in while he signaled the Carcass to stand close by and to be ready to come about at a moment's notice. When the ice

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field loomed in sight, the ships were brought about smartly, thus escaping a serious collision, as they were scarcely a cable's length from the pack with a fresh wind setting them toward it. The following day an observation showed the vessels to be in latitude 79 o 56'. Before them lay the ice field running east-northeast to west-northwest with no opening in sight. It was probable that the sea [says Phipps in his journal], if open a n y where, would be so to the eastward, where the Greenlandmen do not often venture, for fear of being prevented from returning by the ice joining to Spitzbergen. I determined, therefore, should the wind continue in the same quarter next d a y , to find whether the ice joined to the land, or was so detached as to afford me an opportunity of passing to the eastward.

The wind being now from the north, the vessels stood in among the loose ice close to the main field, and gradually made their way eastward; but they had not gone far before Phipps became convinced of the impossibility of finding a passage in this direction, and in this opinion he was sustained by Lutwidge and the pilots. He therefore put his ships about, and headed the expedition in a northwesterly direction with the full intention of returning to the east in case a passage to the west could not be found, for by that time the ice which now blocked him to the eastward might be broken up. Unfortunately, the voyage westward proved no more satisfactory than the one to the east, and Phipps concluded, after having run along the field for a distance of ten degrees, trying every opening to the north, that the ice was "one compact, impenetrable body." He therefore determined to return to the east, keeping close to shore in the hope of locating a rift between the ice and the land of Spitzbergen. At this point, Phipps decided to rest a few days before running eastward. The ships were accordingly brought to anchor in a small bay near Smeerenberg Harbor, where the

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astronomer landed and made a series of observations, while the crew busied themselves with securing a fresh supply of water. It is interesting to note here the warmth which the explorers enjoyed in these high latitudes. T h e thermometer stood at 49 degrees in the shade, and rose to 90 when exposed to the sun. Such temperatures are b y no means uncommon in certain parts of the A r c t i c regions, as recent investigations have shown, for perpetual sunlight, under given conditions, produces in the F a r N o r t h a climate that compares favorably with the summers of the temperate zones. W o r k being completed on shore, the vessels weighed anchor and stood northward under a westerly breeze. Phipps had decided to try for an opening to the westward again, as the wind had now veered to the east, but as this a t t e m p t met with no better luck than before, he headed his vessels eastward, thinking that with the wind in this quarter he could always turn and run before it in case there was any danger of his being embayed in the ice. On the twentyseventh of J u l y , when in latitude 8o° 48', which appears to have been their farthest north, the ships were stopped by the main body of the ice, which lay in a line running due east and west. Nevertheless, Phipps continued his j o u r n e y , trying every inlet leading to the north, and forcing his ships under press of sail through the loose ice. B u t now fresh difficulties beset him. T h e vessels became caught in the ice, and he was soon brought to realize that it was not a question of going farther, but of getting southward as soon as possible, if he did not wish to lose his fleet in the frightful grip of an Arctic ice pack. In fact so desperate had the situation become that he dispatched his two pilots to an island not far off, to learn, if possible, the exact extent of the ice field before him. T o his great j o y they presently returned with tidings of open water to the westward, j u s t around the point of land by which the vessels had come. B u t still the Œ13B

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ships remained fast in the ice, and it was necessary to consider the advisability of abandoning them and seeking winter quarters on land. But no sooner had the question been discussed than conditions began to change; the ice gave way, a strong easterly breeze sprang up, and by the tenth of August the ships were clear of the ice. The season was now too far spent to permit any further exploration that year. T h e summer, according to Phipps, had been unusually favorable for the work; he had sailed almost to the eightieth parallel before meeting ice, though it is usually found six or seven degrees lower; and he had been able to survey the ice field for a span of twenty degrees of longitude. There remained, therefore, nothing more to be done. After a brief stay at Smeerenberg Harbor, where the expedition stopped to make a few scientific observations, the ships were headed south, and reached England in the latter part of September. Whatever may have been the feelings of Captain Phipps in regard to the feasibility of reaching the North Pole, Daines Barrington, at any rate, was still unconvinced of its impossibility. On the contrary, he continued to gather fresh data concerning the high latitudes attained by various navigators, which he submitted to the Royal Society in two papers. A t a meeting held on M a y 19, 1774, he thus began his address: As I was the unworthy proposer of the voyage towards the North Pole, which the Council of the Royal Society recommended to the Board of Admiralty, I think it my duty to lay before the Society such intelligence as I have happened to procure with regard to navigators having reached high northern latitudes; because some of these accounts seem to promise, that we may proceed farther towards the Pole than the very able officers, who were sent on this destination last year, were permitted to penetrate, notwithstanding their repeated efforts to pass beyond eighty degrees and a half.»

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And with this preamble, the "unworthy proposer" set forth the following evidence which he had collected. One Andrew Leekie, sometime seaman and barber extraordinary on the Reading, had informed him that one day while engaged in shaving the commander, Thomas Robinson, that officer had told him he had once sailed as high as latitude 84^°. Barrington, wishing to verify this bit of barber'sshop gossip, sought out Captain Robinson, who promptly corrected the latitude to 82^°. He also volunteered the information that he could doubtless have reached 83o, but how much farther he could have gone he modestly forebore to say. The next instance given is the achievement of Captain Cheyne, who claimed to have attained the eighty-second parallel, though he did not say whether he had found his position by observation or by dead reckoning. An interesting account was also gathered by Barrington, and by him transmitted to the Society, of one Captain MacCallam, employed in 1751 in the Greenland fishery. MacCallam, finding conditions propitious, determined to see how near he could get to the Pole, and sailed northward to 83H°> where he decided, with some reluctance, to turn back, as such a voyage, after all, had not been authorized by the owners of his vessel. Nevertheless, he contented himself with remarking that if it had not been for his mate's faint-heartedness, he might have reached the Pole. The last account submitted at this meeting is the one Barrington heard indirectly of a certain Dr. Daillie, who years before had sailed in a Dutch man-of-war to the eighty-fourth parallel, where he found the weather warm and the seas free from ice. Unfortunately, the captain refused to go any farther through fear of a reprimand from his superiors for venturing so far from his station, and for this reason he would not allow any journal of the voyage to be kept. T h e story is obviously false. Μ

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Seven months later, Barrington was again before the Society with a fresh batch of stories. In his introductory address he offered a curious argument for his belief in an open Polar Sea. Speculative geographers, he said, held to the theory that there must be the same amount of land above water in the southern hemisphere as in the northern in order to maintain the equilibrium of the globe. Thus far explorers had discovered more land north of the equator than south of it; hence there surely could be no Arctic continent, and on the contrary there must be a sea around the Pole. This theory was a popular one for those who wished to prove the existence of a vast Antarctic continent, but like many another scientific theory it could not stand the light of reality. Barrington then proceeded to disprove the absence of any permanent ice sheet, blocking the route to the Pole, by arguments involving the temperature of the Arctic in summer and the difficulty of freezing salt water. He also gave accounts of voyages to the Far North which he had gathered since his previous discourse. T w o of these are worthy of mention, as they show the credulity which a scientist will evince in building up his favorite hypothesis, and Barrington's credulity was a subject of good-natured jest among his contemporaries. He referred to a paper recorded by the Royal Society in 1662-63 in which mention was made of a Hollander who gave evidence of having reached latitude 89o 30'. This record Barrington believed to be genuine, and he inquired ironically if the secretary, who had noted his disbelief on the margin of the record, had done so because the feat had not been accomplished by an Englishman. Another example of Barrington's gullibility is shown by the credence he gave to the report of one John Wood, who sailed for the Northeast Passage in 1676. Wood had heard indirectly of two Hollanders who, when engaged in a whaling venture, had decided to go far to the north in search of their Hi 61

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game. In the course of their wanderings, they came within one degree of the Pole. Wood, after his ineffectual attempt to find the passage—he got no further than latitude 7 6 o — declined, in the light of his own experience, to credit the story, but Barrington, on the contrary, believed it to be authentic. But enough of these tales. Barrington collected others besides those cited above, a full discussion of which would be tedious and repetitious. And now in order to gain as much knowledge as possible as to the practicability of reaching the Pole, Barrington sent out a questionnaire to sea captains, who had ventured into the Arctic, asking for information under three headings: How near had a ship been to the Pole? When were the Polar seas most free from ice? How far south had the ice been seen? The information received in the replies only served to confirm him in his opinion of the feasibility of his cherished project. He gave ready credence to the statements of those who had attained, or had heard of others who had attained, the higher latitudes, while he explained away the failure of still other captains to duplicate these performances by assuming that the ice barrier was a temporary obstruction and not a permanent one, a belief which was founded upon the fact that the solid field was not always encountered in the same place. In commenting upon the account, sent him by the Astronomer Royal, of a certain Captain Stephens, who in 1754, a year when the sea had been open a month earlier than usual, had reached latitude 84J40, he says: " F r o m this, and other facts of the same kind, I cannot but infer, that the attempt should be made early in the season; if I am right also in what I have before supposed, that the ice, which often packs near the coasts of Spitzbergen, comes chiefly from the rivers, which empty themselves into the Tartarian Sea [sea north of Asia], it seems highly probable, that this is the proper time of Œ17I

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pushing to the northward, as the ice in such rivers cannot be then completely broken up [and float down into the ocean]. Then referring to the information he had gathered from his sea captains he continues: " I take this opportunity of recapitulating the years since 1746, during which it appears, from the instances I have stated, that the sea to the north of Spitzbergen hath been open, so as to permit attempts of approaching the Pole, which will show that such opportunities are not uncommon, and it is hoped that they will be more frequently embraced." 6 Against the three stock arguments offered by those who considered a voyage to the Pole impracticable, namely, excessive cold, danger of becoming blocked by the ice, and fear that the compass would become useless in high latitudes, Barrington had plenty of ammunition. Experience, he said, had reversed the fears of tradition and shown that the cold is not too intense to be borne; and in support of this he cited examples to show that many places far to the north are warmer than some in the south. Even the Dutchmen who were credited with going to within a degree of the Pole found weather as hot as that of Amsterdam in summer. The ice, continued Barrington, is, according to sailors, more formidable than fatal, for despite the great quantities formed in Hudson B a y , vessels had gone there for a hundred years without apparently experiencing much difficulty. "All accounts agree," he says, "that, in very high latitudes, there is less ice." The problem of the compass he dismissed with the unreliable statement that those who had advanced to within one degree of the Pole had detected an error in variation of only five degrees. Barrington was, of course, anxious to see another expedition sent out. A passage to Asia by the North Pole would mean a much shorter journey—only a few weeks, he said— than the one then used by the Cape of Good Hope. T o obΜ

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tain crews for such unusual voyages, the inhabitants of the Orkneys and Shetlands could be employed, as they were inured to cold, being engaged largely in the Greenland fisheries. He further believed that the colonial empire might be extended by settling certain islands in the Far North. Then coming down to specific details for a voyage, he advocated the use of a ship such as was then used in whaling voyages to Greenland, with boats specially constructed of light material so they could easily be drawn over the ice in case of necessity. Such a ship should be well supplied, for the crew might be obliged to winter in the ice; and in order to keep up their morale during the long winter nights he suggested a supply of dumb-bells to maintain them in proper physical condition, and a barrel organ to grind out a few country dances for their amusement. In making out his directions for victualing the ship, Barrington proceeded in no haphazard fashion : he secured the best advice he could from naval officers, Greenland skippers and physicians, for the problem of preserving food was a serious one. He solved the question of liquor in a sane, practical manner. Realizing the limited space in a vessel of this character, he suggested that only high-explosive beverages be stored in it, for, as he pithily remarked: "the stronger the spirits, the less the stowage." We have gone into Barrington's views at some length because the arguments put forth by him formed in the course of time something of a classic on the subject. Forty years later, after Barrington had been laid to rest, when the question of a voyage over the Pole was reopened, it was found advisable to collect his papers and reprint them in book form, as examples of the most substantial information to be found. Nevertheless, shortly after the return of Captain Phipps, Barrington's influence was still great enough to induce the government to plan another expedition; in fact, [M

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even before he had read to the Society the papers we have referred to, the Council wrote the Admiralty (February, 1774), submitting another plan. 6 In this letter a novel scheme is set forth. It is to reverse the usual line of travel in searching for a northern or northwestern passage, and to attempt to discover it b y sailing from the Pacific to the Atlantic. T h e plan was to victual a ship at C a n t o n , whence it would cross the ocean to the northern part of N e w Albion (California) and then, proceeding up the coast line of the American continent, seek a passage to Europe. In case such a passage could not be found, the vessel was to return to Asia and explore the coasts of K a m c h a t k a and Korea, concerning which little was then known. T h e A d m i r a l t y was favorably impressed with the scheme, but was obliged to reply that lack of the necessary funds made it impossible to undertake the journey for the present. Fortunately Barrington, who was then a member of the Council, had a conversation with Lord Sandwich, in which he learned to his great j o y that such a voyage would take place after the return of C a p t a i n C o o k , who was at this time on his celebrated journey around the world. W h e n C o o k reached E n g l a n d , plans were at once set on foot to dispatch an expedition in accordance with the outline suggested b y the R o y a l Society; in fact, the arrival of the navigator was eagerly awaited, as his advice on the subj e c t was considered of paramount importance. C o o k was, of course, the logical man to fill the post of commander, but as he had done so much for the cause of discovery, the Admiralty felt a hesitancy about asking him to resume his labors immediately. L o r d Sandwich solved the problem by inviting C o o k to dinner at which the proposed scheme of discovery was placed before him and discussed by the company present. T h e explorer listened attentively, adding his comments from time to time. Finally, as the possibilities of the adventure dawned on him, he became fired with enM

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thusiasm and volunteered his services as commander of the expedition. The Admiralty asked for nothing better; they accepted his offer, and presented him with his commission on February 10, 1776. The plan of the voyage, as laid out in the commission, was simple enough. Captain Cook was to take his vessels to the Pacific by way of Cape of Good Hope and cross that ocean to New Albion. Ascending this coast, he was to begin his search for a passage only after he had passed the sixtyfifth parallel; then he was to keep a sharp lookout for any inlet that appeared to offer a route to either Hudson Bay or Baffin Bay. If no inlet were found, he was to winter at Kamchatka and begin his work again the following spring, only this time he was to direct his course to the north and look for either a northwest or a northeast passage through Bering Strait. To give financial encouragement to the enterprise, the Act of 1745, formerly passed to offer a reward for the successful outcome of Arthur Dobbs's expedition, was amended to meet the present requirements. The original act had offered a prize of £20,000 to any British ship, barring navy vessels, that should pass from the Atlantic to the Pacific through Hudson Bay. The present one extended the reward to ships of the Royal Navy, as well as merchant craft, and substituted for Hudson Bay any region north of 52 o . A sum of £5,000 was also offered to any vessel coming within one degree of the Pole.7 Captain Cook sailed in June, 1776, with two vessels, the Resolution and the Discovery, and rounding the Cape of Good Hope crossed the Pacific Ocean in a leisurely manner, stopping for long periods at different places, until he finally reached the coast of New Albion in March, 1778. His landfall was a harbor near the forty-fourth parallel, and from there he presently moved north to Nootka Sound. Continuing thence in the same direction, Cook found himself obliged M

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to k e e p well o f f s h o r e b e c a u s e of a s t r o n g w e s t e r l y g a l e t h a t t h r e a t e n e d to d r i v e h i m a g r o u n d , so t h a t b e t w e e n

latitude

50 o a n d 55 o there w e r e g a p s in his s u r v e y of t h e coast. W h i l e sailing n o r t h to t h e s i x t y - f i f t h parallel, w h e r e his search w a s to b e g i n , he p a u s e d l o n g e n o u g h to explore C o o k ' s I n l e t , a h u g e a r m o f t h e sea in l a t i t u d e 6o°. H e p r e s e n t l y

reached

C a p e P r i n c e of W a l e s , t h e A m e r i c a n side of B e r i n g latitude

65o

Strait,

4 5 ' , on the n i n t h o f J u l y a n d , p a s s i n g t h r o u g h

the s t r a i t , sailed n o r t h w a r d to 7 0 o 3 0 ' . B y t h e end of J u l y , the explorer h a d d e c i d e d to return a n d select a s u i t a b l e p l a c e to w i n t e r , for the season w a s too far a d v a n c e d

to p e r m i t

his finding a n y p a s s a g e t h a t y e a r . B u t b e f o r e turning s o u t h he m a d e a t h o r o u g h e x p l o r a t i o n of t h e sea a n d coasts a b o u t Bering Strait. Cook

wintered

at the H a w a i i a n

Islands.

On

his

way

s o u t h w a r d to r e a c h t h e m he s t o p p e d a t U n a l a s k a , an island of t h e A l e u t i a n g r o u p , a n d m a d e d i l i g e n t inquiries of the n a t i v e s a b o u t the o b j e c t of his search. H e n o t i c e d a similari t y b e t w e e n t h e d i a l e c t of t h e i n h a b i t a n t s of this island and t h a t o f the G r e e n l a n d e r s a n d E s k i m o s , a f a c t w h i c h led him to c o n c l u d e t h a t these tribes b e l o n g e d to t h e s a m e race, in w h i c h case, he t h o u g h t , there m u s t be s o m e m e a n s of c o m munication

between

the

western

ocean

and

Baffin

Bay.

U n f o r t u n a t e l y C o o k w a s u n a b l e to c o n t i n u e his search, for he m e t his d e a t h in H a w a i i a t t h e h a n d s of the n a t i v e s ; b u t the f o l l o w i n g spring his followers a g a i n t o o k u p the burden of the w o r k a n d , p a s s i n g t h r o u g h B e r i n g S t r a i t , sailed north until

t h e y were s t o p p e d

by

the ice

field.

T h i s second

ex-

perience c a u s e d t h e m to regard the d i s c o v e r y of a p a s s a g e as i m p o s s i b l e , so, sailing b a c k t h r o u g h B e r i n g S t r a i t ,

they

r e t u r n e d to E n g l a n d , a r r i v i n g there in O c t o b e r , 1780. M e a n w h i l e the a u t h o r i t i e s a t h o m e h a d p l a n n e d to render C o o k assistance b y s e n d i n g a ship to B a f f i n B a y in the hope of meeting

him

at

the eastern M

end of

the

passage.

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Lt. Richard Pickersgill, who had been ordered to the bay to protect British whalers against any possible depredations of the Americans (for the War of American Independence had just broken out), was also instructed to explore it with a view to securing sufficient information to facilitate the work of sending out a second expedition, which was to be dispatched the following year to meet Captain Cook. Pickersgill was specifically ordered not to attempt the passage, but to be back in England before the winter set in. He left Deptford in the Lion on May 25, 1776, and reached Cape Farewell, the southern extremity of Greenland, six weeks later. Gradually ascending the western shore of this island in a slow and deliberate manner, he eventually reached the sixty-fifth parallel in Davis Strait. Here he realized that his progress of only twelve miles a day was due to his keeping too close to land. He therefore made for deep water, and for the period of one day actually covered seventy-seven miles, only to return again to the shore. For a brief time he kept on his northern course; then, as the days began to grow shorter and the unsanitary condition of his ship brought on an epidemic of fever, he turned back, after reaching latitude 68° 10'. His exploit, as might be expected, met with no favorable reception from his superiors. It threw no light on the region he had been sent out to explore, though he expressed a belief, based on what he had heard from the inhabitants of Davis Strait, that a passage lay to the northwest of the strait in a different direction from Baffin's track. 8 Pickersgill was superseded in his command, and the Lion was turned over to another officer the following year. Lt. Walter Young was the commander placed in charge of the Lion when she again sailed for Davis Strait. In the instructions he received, he was ordered to take his ship to Baffin Bay and to explore its western side as far as possible and, in case he found a promising lead, to attempt the pas(M

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sage to the Pacific. Arrived there, he was to return at once by the same route, if possible; otherwise he was to winter on the shores of that ocean and come back by the passage the following spring. Ten days after receiving his instructions Y o u n g sailed from the Nore, and in due time reached Cape Farewell. There was to be no hitch in the proceedings this time, and for this reason he had been ordered to make an early start. Though he appears to have made a better showing than Pickersgill in the distance he sailed to the north, like him he does not seem to have made any effort to carry out his instructions by exploring the western shore of Baffin Bay, where alone the passage could be found. He sailed up the western coast of Greenland to latitude 72 o 4 then, apparently without further effort, he turned south and sailed back to England. 9 With Y o u n g and Cook ended the last attempt to find a passage during the eighteenth century, with the exception of one insignificant, abortive expedition to Hudson Bay. B y the time Cook had sailed, England was beginning the series of wars that was to occupy so much of the next forty years. I t was impossible, of course, for Englishmen to take any interest in expeditions of a purely scientific character—the idea of any commercial value in the passage had long since disappeared—when every ship of her navy was needed to guard her shores, or to harry the commerce of her enemies. When the Treaty of Paris was signed in 1815, putting an end to the schemes of Napoleon, the English were again at liberty to undertake works of discovery; and, in fact, then began that wonderful epic of Arctic exploration that forms the theme of this book. But before taking up the narratives of the sea captains who stand out as the heroes of this great undertaking, we wish to discuss the peculiar phenomenon of the breaking up of the Polar ice field which gave rise to the belief that the Pole could at last be reached; and it is also M

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opportune to introduce at this point a man who, as second secretary to the Admiralty for forty years, devoted so much time and effort to furthering the discovery of the Northwest Passage. W e refer to Sir John Barrow. John Barrow was born at Dragley Beck, near Ulverston, in 1764, and attended the local grammar school at the latter place. Though destined for the Church by his parents, his tastes lay in other directions; so after completing his studies, in which he specialized in astronomy and navigation, he accepted a position with a Liverpool iron foundry. This he held until the death of the proprietor, when he shipped aboard a whaling vessel under one Captain Potts, and started on a voyage to Greenland. On this journey he became acquainted with the Arctic regions and perfected himself in the practical side of navigation. It was a momentous event for him, as it roused his interest in the Polar regions, and left a never-to-be-forgotten impression on his mind. B u t for years the interest lay dormant. Returning from his voyage, he secured, through the influence of his friend, Sir George Staunton, a position in the household of Lord Macarteney who was then starting (1792) on his embassy to China. Returning from this mission, Macarteney was sent to Cape of Good Hope, and there Barrow accompanied him. In South Africa Barrow was charged with the task of reconciling the Boers and the Kaffirs. In this undertaking he traveled over hundreds of miles of territory practically unknown, and brought back a thorough survey of the colony, which gained for him the highest praise. As he believed the English would now occupy the colony permanently, he determined to make it his home. In the year 1800 he married Anne Maria Trüter and purchased a house on Table Mountain, near Cape Town, where he expected to live the life of a country gentleman. But the Treaty of Amiens, signed two years later, compelled the English to evacuate the place, M

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and Barrow was obliged to return to England. He now had the good fortune to be made second secretary to the Admiralty, a post he held for forty years. This position enabled him to do great things to further Arctic exploration. He became an official on whom those interested in the Northwest Passage could always rely when pushing forward their plans for its discovery. Barrow served under the Lord High Admiral, the Duke of Clarence, and when the latter ascended the throne as William I V he presented his faithful secretary with a baronetcy. Sir John Barrow died in 1848. In the year 1 8 1 7 a young sea captain, named William Scoresby, furnished the spark that rekindled the flame of Arctic exploration, a flame kept alive during the nineteenth century until, not only the Northwest Passage, but also the North Pole, was finally discovered. Scoresby had served as apprentice on a whaler under his father since he was a mere lad, and had made voyages year after year to the northern waters, on one occasion going as high as 8i° 30'. Later he studied chemistry and natural philosophy, and thus acquired a knowledge which made his comments on Arctic conditions doubly valuable. He had at this time the good fortune to become acquainted with Sir Joseph Banks, president of the Royal Society, who introduced him to a number of prominent men, and persuaded him to make a series of observations on the Polar regions. On returning from his annual whaling voyage in 1817, a voyage unfortunately none too profitable, Scoresby had the good fortune to bring back a piece of information destined to set in motion the first expedition to the Northwest Passage in the nineteenth century. This information he at once transmitted to his friend Sir Joseph Banks. I found on m y last voyage [he wrote on October 2, 1 8 1 7 ] , about 2000 square leagues of the surface of the Greenland Sea, 10 included between the parallels of 7 4 o and 8o° north, perfectly void of ice, which is usually

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covered with it. Now, all this ice has disappeared within the last two years, and there is little doubt but it has been drifted to the southward into warmer climates, and there dissolved. . . . Had I been so fortunate as to have had the command of an expedition for discovery instead of fishing I have little doubt but that the mystery attached to the existence of a northwest passage might have been (I should have added "in some measure") resolved. There could have been no great difficulty in exploring the eastern coast of Greenland, and probably the fate of the colony established by the Icelanders so many centuries ago might have been ascertained. I do conceive there is sufficient interest attached to these remote regions to induce Government to fit out an expedition, were it properly represented. The simple examination of the shores of Spitzbergen would be a matter of much interest to the naturalist and geologist. I should have much satisfaction in attempting an enterprise of this kind, namely, to examine and survey the islands of East Greenland or Spitzbergen, especially the eastern part, which has not been visited [for] many years past; and to ascertain, for the benefit of the whalers, whether the whales resort thither; to endeavor to reach the shore of West Greenland [i.e., Greenland proper], determine its position, prove its insularity, and ascertain the fate of the Icelandic colony, together with making researches (contemplating a continuation of the exploration through a series of years) relative to the northeast and northwest passages etc.; for the performance of which objects, I could point out a method by which the enterprise could be conducted with little, or possibly no expense to the nation. 11

The kernel of this epoch-making letter was the information regarding the ice barrier, which from time immemorial had blocked the route to the Pole. This barrier, the one that had turned back Captain Phipps, was now broken up, and the road to the north was clear. Sir Joseph Banks replied promptly, thanking the writer for his information and for his Treatise on the Northern Ice, with which he had accompanied it, and suggesting an amendment to the Parliamentary reward, an amendment by which an explorer would receive £1,000 for every degree he should advance above the eighty-second parallel, for the reward, so far, had produced no attempt on the part of any whaling vessel. 12 Before re( M

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ceiving a reply to this communication, B a n k s again wrote Scoresby, for his interest in the possibilities shown b y the breaking up of the ice pack had beeh thoroughly aroused. " T h e more I have considered the facts stated in it [the Treatise]," he wrote, " t h e more I am convinced that the information given in it to the public for the first time, is likely to lead to results highly advantageous to maritime s e r v i c e . " 1 3 T h r e e d a y s after dispatching this letter, B a n k s communicated his thoughts to L o r d Melville, F i r s t L o r d of the A d m i r a l t y . Recapitulating the information given him b y Scoresby, he pointed out its possibilities: T h e same person [Scoresby], who has n e v e r been before able to penetrate to the w e s t w a r d of the meridian of G r e e n w i c h in these latitudes, w a s this y e a r able to proceed to i o ° 3 0 ' W. where he s a w the coast of West G r e e n land [i.e., east coast of Greenland], and entertained no doubt of being able to reach land, had not his d u t y to his employers made it necessary for him to abandon the undertaking. T h i s , with information of a similar n a t u r e derived from other sources; the unusual a b u n d a n c e of ice islands t h a t h a v e , during the last two summers, been b r o u g h t b y currents from D a v i s ' s Straits into the A t l a n t i c ; the ice which has this y e a r surrounded the northern coast of Iceland in unusual q u a n t i t y , a n d remained there u n t h a w e d till the middle of A u g u s t , with floods which h a v e during the whole summer inundated all those p a r t s of G e r m a n y , whence rivers h a v e their sources in s n o w y m o u n t a i n s ; a f f o r d a m p l e proof that new sources of w a r m t h h a v e been opened, and g i v e us l e a v e to hope that the A r c t i c seas m a y a t this time be more accessible t h a n t h e y h a v e been for centuries p a s t ; and that discoveries m a y now be m a d e in them, not only interesting to the a d v a n c e m e n t of science, but also to the f u t u r e intercourse of m a n k i n d and the commerce of distant nations. 1 4

T h e government, B a n k s sincerely hoped, would surely avail itself of this opportunity to correct the geography of the northern regions, particularly that toward America, and to decide conclusively whether Baffin B a y w a s a b a y or an opening into a northern ocean. Sir J o s e p h closed his epistle b y offering Melville the hearty cooperation of the Society in an undertaking of this kind. M

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The Admiralty was, indeed, interested in a voyage of discovery, and responded nobly to the suggestions of the Society. Before three weeks had elapsed, plans had been made and orders given for the fitting out of a fleet to sail early the coming spring. T h e circumstances to which you have adverted [Lord Melville informed the Society], have not failed to engage the attention of the Board of Admiralty, and we deemed it our duty, in conformity with your suggestion, to give orders for the fitting out of four vessels, of proper size and construction, to be in readiness to sail on the first of March, with a view to the important objects stated in your letter. Our present intention is, that two of them should proceed to Davis's Straits, and from thence in a northwesterly and possibly afterwards in a westerly direction, and that the other two should proceed along the coast of E a s t Greenland [Spitzbergen] to the northward, and if practicable, afterwards to the westward. 1 *

The letter closed with a request for the expert advice of the Royal Society in formulating instructions for the guidance of those who were to lead the expeditions, and for suggestions as to the proper scientific instruments to be selected. Meanwhile, Sir John Barrow was apprising the reading public of the possibilities of Arctic exploration by articles in the Quarterly Review. He had learned from Copenhagen that advices had been received from Iceland the previous year informing government officials of the breaking up of the ice pack on the eastern coast of Greenland, and of the appearance farther south of great masses of loose ice, such as icebergs. The same conditions had been noticed in Davis Strait; but, as bergs were frequently seen in this locality, less importance was placed on their presence there than on the masses of ice farther eastward. During the past four centuries, Barrow explained, a barrier of ice had blocked the eastern coast of Greenland, or rather the northern portion of it, shutting off communication with an old Danish colony established there. The phenomenon of the breaking up of the ice pack was first observed in 1815, then more particularly M

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in the two following years b y ships coming from N o r t h America and the W e s t Indies, as well as by those going to Halifax and Newfoundland. T h e y saw great bergs and islands of flat ice as far south as the fortieth parallel. Greater quantities of such ice were seen in M a y , June and July than ever before in the memory of the oldest navigator; and so completely was Newfoundland surrounded that the fishing fleet could not put out to sea. T h i s ice barrier had formerly extended from Staten H o o k , near the southern end of Greenland, northeast to Iceland, then to Spitzbergen between the seventy-sixth and eightieth parallels. A s a cause of the phenomenon now presenting itself, Barrow suggested that the ice, by drifting for years to the east coast of Greenland, had formed such a tremendous mass that it finally broke of its own weight. 1 8 A t this time (August, 1817) a report appeared, in a newspaper, of a brig, the Bremen, which was said to have sailed west from Jan M a y e n ' s Island, a small island north of Iceland, until l a n d — o b v i o u s l y G r e e n l a n d — w a s sighted; then turning northward she skirted the coast to latitude 8i° 30'. Here her skipper turned westward again, and bowled along for several d a y s until he finally lost sight of land. Barrow lost no time in checking up this statement, as here was an opportunity of settling the mooted question of the insularity of Greenland. Inquiring of various sailing masters who had spoken with the captain of the Bremen, he found that they considered the report credible. T h i s then confirmed what Barrow already believed, namely, that Greenland was an island, for, as he reasoned with considerable logic, the perpetual current, which was known to come down through D a v i s Strait at a rate of four or five miles an hour, could not exist if Baffin B a y were closed, and its western shore joined to Greenland. Furthermore, he called attention to the logs of driftwood (fir, birch and larch) cast upon the coasts of M

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Greenland and Iceland, as evidence of the insularity of the former, for these woods did not grow farther north, and must therefore have been brought from Asia by the current flowing through Baffin Bay. In his conclusions he was upheld by Colonel Beaufoy, who at this time was bringing out a fresh edition of the papers of Daines Barrington, to which he had added some comments of his own. It was now time, asserted John Barrow, to strike out for the Northwest Passage. His reasons for believing in the existence of such a strait were similar to those by which he had proved the insularity of Greenland. Glancing at the discoveries of the past few years, he found that three points had been established showing the location of the northern coast of America, namely: Icy Cape, just north of Bering Strait; the mouth of the Mackenzie River; and the mouth of the Coppermine, streams which flow into the Arctic Ocean. These three points are near the seventieth parallel. The eastern terminus of this coast line was as yet unknown, but Barrow felt confident that this terminus was separated from Greenland by a passage. On a small map he has indicated the current running through Davis Strait as coming from Bering Strait, after passing close to the Pole, despite the statement of Captain Cook that little current was to be found north of the latter passage. Another argument, adduced to show the existence of a continuous water connection between the two great oceans, lay in the reports brought in by whalers of the Pacific, stating that they had found whales there with the shafts of harpoons in them which bore the names of vessels fishing in Greenland waters. Barrow's investigations led him to two conclusions, and on the strength of these he determined to advise the undertaking of two expeditions of discovery. He was convinced of the insularity of Greenland, which for his purpose meant abandoning the old conception of Baffin Bay as a closed gulf Μ

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in favor of the theory of a northwest passage having its eastern terminus somewhere along the western shore of the bay. In addition to this, he believed in the possibility of finding a route to the Pole, and eventually to Bering Strait, by sailing directly north from England. H e was an ardent advocate of the theory of a large, navigable Polar Basin, situated in a climate none too cold for navigation, at least in the summer months. Latitude, he said, had little to do with temperature; and this statement, if taken in connection with different parts of the Arctic regions, has in it a considerable amount of truth. T h u s , he reasoned, if open water were found up to 8o° of latitude, there was no reason w h y it should not be found at the Pole, since the temperature of the two places must have the same general average. T h e ocean in the high latitudes, as records showed, was often warmer than the air above it, so that in those parts where the depth was sufficient to hold this temperature, ice would not be found, it being formed more readily in shallow water. B u t for his most convincing arguments of an open Polar sea, Barrow turns to the records of navigation in high latitudes, compiled by Daines Barrington. In quoting the record of one of Barrington's heroes who had reached 83 o , he says: " C a p t a i n G u y declared that he had never been so far to the northward before, and crawled up to the mizzen-topmasthead, accompanied by the chief mate, whilst the second mate, together with M r . Adams, went to the fore-topmasthead, from which they saw a sea as free from ice as any part of the Atlantic Ocean, and it was the joint opinion of them all that they might have reached the North Pole." There was, moreover, one point on which all the masters examined b y Barrington agreed, namely, that once the Spitzbergen ice was passed, the sea became clear and northerly winds brought clearer and warmer weather. In explaining the reason w h y , in view of the favorable conditions encountered in M

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the Polar sea, discoveries had never been pushed farther, Barrow stated that the vessels engaged in the northern waters were whalers whose masters preferred the vicinity of the ice as the proper feeding grounds of their game, and also because the master and mate of the ship were bound by an oath to devote themselves entirely to the purpose for which their vessels were chartered. The views and plans of John Barrow did not meet with universal approval. The Edinburgh Review presently published an article throwing cold water on his schemes for reaching the North Pole and discovering the Northwest Passage, though the author grudgingly admitted that existing conditions for the accomplishment of the former object were more favorable than they had been in the past. 17 As the Quarterly Review, Barrow's vehicle, had been founded to counteract the Jacobite influence of the Scotch magazine, it may be that political jealousy induced the editors of the latter to take an opposite stand to anything advocated by the Quarterly. It must be said, however, that so far as the voyage to the Pole was concerned, the opponents of Barrow used sound judgment. B y the more speculative relators [says the Edinburgh Review], it has been supposed that the vast icy barrier which, during many ages, had obstructed those forlorn regions, is at last, from some revolution of our globe, broken up and dispersed. The project of finding a northwest passage to Asia—a project so often attempted, and so long abandoned—has in consequence been again revived: and the more daring scheme of penetrating to the Pole itself, has likewise been seriously proposed. Of the success of either plan, our hopes we confess, are extremely slender; yet the prospect now held forth seems to be more inviting, on the whole, than at any former period when such bold undertakings were made. The discovery of a northwest passage, were it ever attainable, could hardly indeed be of any real benefit to our commerce, since in such high latitudes where only it must be sought for, it would at all times be very precarious, and liable to interruption from the prevalence of ice.

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The author, it must be admitted, was by no means impressed by the reports of the breaking up of the ice. This occurrence, he believed, was very likely one that had happened many times before, nor did he feel that it should be taken to mean that the entire pack had been broken up; only the border had been changed; the ice about the Pole remained the same. We find also in this article a tendency to support the opinions of William Scoresby when they clashed with the views of Barrow. For example, Scoresby rejected the theory of an open sea at the Pole, a favorite belief of Barrow's, and the Edinburgh publication, as we have seen, considered the Polar regions closed. "From the pretended excursions of the Dutch," wrote Scoresby, "many have believed that the sea at the Pole is free from ice; were this really the case, the circumstance would certainly be an extraordinary one; but I consider it too improbable to render it necessary to hazard any opinion concerning it." 18 Furthermore, Scoresby advocated a plan of sending men with sledges over the ice to the Pole from Spitzbergen, and the Edinburgh Review applauded the scheme. Barrow, however, held it up to ridicule as an "idle and thoughtless project," and deplored the fact that "a young man of some talent should have been betrayed, by a desire to make the vulgar stare, into such an inconsistency." He considered it "an easier task to drive a broad-wheeled waggon over the summit of Mont-Blanc, than a reindeer sledge to the North Pole." Unfortunately for the critic, the North Pole was eventually reached in precisely such a fashion, save that dogs were used instead of reindeer. Turning now from theoretical speculations to the more practical side of the business, we find William Scoresby on the road to London to lay his plans before the Royal Society. Early in December he had written Sir Joseph Banks, submitting an outline for conducting the search by means of an expedition which should collect scientific knowledge in the M

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fields of meteorology, hydrography, natural history, botany, geology and magnetism. A t this time Scoresby's father was in London, where he was having interviews with Sir Joseph and several other prominent gentlemen. As a result of these conferences, the younger Scoresby was summoned to the city to give his opinions in person. He came at once, and was immediately ushered into the presence of the president of the Society. A s one of the leading authorities on the Arctic, and a sea captain of considerable experience in those regions, he fully believed he could secure the command of one of the vessels in the coming expedition. Great was his disappointment, then, when he learned that the entire matter was to be under the supervision of the navy, and only naval officers were to be made commanders. Mr. Barrow, to whom he then turned, told him he might secure a post of some kind on one of the ships by applying to the navy board; but Scoresby, feeling that a subordinate position would be beneath his dignity, declined to participate in the undertaking. Before dismissing Scoresby from our narrative, we wish, since he played such an important part in launching the first voyage toward the Northwest Passage in the nineteenth century, to quote the opinion he expressed just before the vessels sailed. It is a sane, well-balanced opinion, whose conclusions are borne out by subsequent discoveries. A s the expeditions for discovery in the Polar Seas have excited so m u c h interest w i t h the public [he wrote Sir Joseph Banks], it m a y not be amiss to offer an opinion as to the probability of success. T h o u g h the P o l a r Seas were n a v i g a b l e in an u n c o m m o n degree last summer, I conceive it v e r y uncertain whether the ice m a y yet remain the same, and whether the navigation o f these seas still continues equally open. Hence some uncertainty must a t t a c h to e v e r y a t t e m p t , though it seems probable they m a y be able to examine the entire coast of west Greenland [i.e., Greenland proper], to determine its insularity, and, consequently, the existence or non-existence of Baffin's B a y . B u t as to reaching the Pole, I confess myself skeptical. From w h a t I h a v e observed, I imagine probabilities are

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against their penetrating beyond 82 o or 83 o , and I readily allow I shall be much surprised if they should pass the eighty-fourth degree of latitude. T h e success of the expedition intended for the Northwest is still more equivocal. Indeed, the nature of that voyage is wrapped in so much uncertainty, that, in my opinion, it cannot warrant even a conjecture. I am persuaded a northwest passage exists—that is, as regards any obstruction from land; but how far it m a y or m a y not be blocked up with ice, so as to be always impervious, can only be determined by repeated trials."

Preparations were now pushed rapidly. A plan for the expedition was drawn up by John Barrow as secretary to the Admiralty and submitted to the president and the Council of the R o y a l Society for comment and approval. When the plan was completed, Barrow handed it to Lord Melville who in turn sent it to Lord Liverpool, the prime minister. T h e latter's consent having been obtained, the Admiralty issued the orders for making the necessary preparations. There were, however, two measures put through to encourage, not only this expedition, but any possible future ones. The oath taken by masters of whaling vessels which Barrow, as we have seen, had criticized as tending to discourage exploration by such ships, was repealed, and a new one substituted. B y the new oath owners and masters were to swear they had no intention of making a profit other than by fishing in the Greenland Sea and Davis Strait, except in the case of rewards offered by Parliament for finding a passage and approaching the Pole. 20 A still further reward for discovery was now offered by Parliament, at Barrow's suggestion. T o the prize of £20,000 mentioned in the Act of 1776 were added rewards for partial discovery based on a scale to be published by a commission appointed for that purpose. 21 The commission consisted of a number of distinguished men, including three members of the R o y a l Society. T h e scale of rewards established by them was as follows: to the first vessel sailing within the Arctic Circle to longitude i i o ° W. or to M

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the mouth of the Coppermine, £5,000; to I30°W. or to the mouth of the Mackenzie, £10,000; to 150 0 W., £15,000; to the Pacific Ocean, £20,000. For those going north to 83 o , £ 1 , 0 0 0 ; to 85 o , £2,000; to 88°, £4,000; to 89o, £5,000. Such in general were the events and theories leading up to the search for the Northwest Passage in the nineteenth century. William Scoresby had brought back the information showing a new condition in the Far North; John Barrow had analyzed the data, and, drawing favorable conclusions therefrom, had begun the arduous work that made him the father of Arctic exploration during the period we are about to discuss. It has been necessary to explain at some length the theories entertained by various prominent men during the fifty years preceding the first voyage, in order to give the reader a proper conception of the beliefs upon which these individuals based their plans for discovery. Without further ado, we shall now turn to the twin expeditions of Commanders John Ross and David Buchan.

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II ROSS'S F I R S T VOYAGE AND VOYAGE

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ROSS'S FIRST VOYAGE, AND BUCHAN'S VOYAGE

U R I N G the winter of 1818 the shipyards at Deptford resounded with the noise of hammering, as the work of fitting out the vessels for the coming expeditions was pushed hurriedly forward. Four ships, commissioned on the fifteenth of January, namely, the Isabella, 385 tons, the Dorothea, 382 tons, the Alexander, 252}^ tons, and the Trent, 249H tons, were being thoroughly overhauled and reinforced with stout planks and heavy timbers to enable them to withstand the pressure of the Arctic ice. While the ships were in dock, the comptroller and commissioners of the navy made frequent visits to see that the instructions given for the work were being properly carried out. It would take several pages to list a complete inventory of the supplies placed on board the vessels, for the sponsors of the expedition had determined to leave no stone unturned in furnishing the crews with every possible article that might be needed for their comfort, or for the proper handling of the ships. Food, ammunition, warm clothing, blankets, tools, spare sails and rigging were all stowed away in the capacious holds; in fact nothing seems to have been omitted save the dumb-bells and the barrel organ so warmly recommended by Daines Barrington. An elaborate and expensive set of scientific instruments, many of them in duplicate, was placed on board; and two distinguished scientists, Capt. Edward Sabine of the Royal Artillery and Mr. George Fisher, were sent along to insure their proper handling. The expedition, as we have said, was divided into two parts: one directed to Baffin Bay, the other toward the North M

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Pole. T o the former were assigned the Isabella and the Alexander under Commander John Ross; to the latter, the Dorothea and the Trent under Commander David Buchan. Though the two little fleets were to sail on different courses, Ross acted in a measure as the senior captain, as the instructions given to him and Buchan authorized him to take command of the expedition should the vessels meet in the Pacific Ocean, after having successfully accomplished their allotted tasks. John Ross was born in Wigtonshire in 1790. At thirteen years of age he joined the navy, but was advised by his captain to serve his apprenticeship in the mercantile marine. Acting on this suggestion, he spent the next ten years of his life in the employ of the East India Company and other business firms, making several voyages, principally to the West Indies and the Baltic Sea. A t the end of this time he reëntered the navy, and served with credit in the war, being wounded a number of times. He was made a lieutenant in 1805, and a commander seven years later. Though a personal friend of John Barrow, it was not at Barrow's suggestion that he was chosen to command the expedition, for the secretary realized the unwisdom of intrusting such an enterprise to a man who, whatever his qualifications as a naval officer, had had no experience in Arctic navigation. He was recommended for the position by Sir George Hope of the Admiralty; and in an unfortunate moment, as it later turned out, he accepted it and hoisted his flag on the Isabella. Commanding the Alexander was Lt. W. E. Parry, soon to become one of the most distinguished of Arctic explorers. Serving on the Isabella as a midshipman was James C. Ross, a nephew of the commander, now beginning a career destined to take him to the Antarctic as well as to the Arctic seas. The other branch of the expedition, which was to proceed towards the North Pole, was under the orders of David M

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Buchan, an officer who had just received the rank of commander for the ability he had shown in sailing the seas about Newfoundland. As he was better fitted than Ross for the business now at hand by his experience in navigating iceladen waters, the results of his voyage redounded more to his credit than the accomplishments of his less fortunate superior. Taking personal command of the Dorothea, he found under him a number of men who were to gain lasting renown in the annals of the frozen North. Commanding the Trent was Lt. John Franklin, whose tragic fate monopolized the attention of Arctic explorers thirty years later, while under him were two future explorers, Frederick W. Beechey and George Back. There was a total of ninety-four officers and men in the party headed by Ross, and ninety-three in that under Buchan. When Ross received his appointment from Sir George Hope in the middle of December, 1817, he came to London at once, arriving there on the thirtieth. The vessels were put in commission on the fifteenth of January, and five weeks later were taken out of dock to be placed alongside the receiving ships. So rapidly had the work been pushed that the season was too early for the start, and the ships lay at anchor for nearly two months. During this time both commanding officers received their instructions from the Admiralty, who were precise in giving directions as to what should be done in laying out a general course, but wisely allowed their officers considerable latitude in carrying out the details. Ross was ordered to make his way to Davis Strait, through which he was to sail without stopping, unless a halt was found to be absolutely necessary. In this passage he was to look for the current which was generally believed to flow down from the north. In tracing this current [say his orders], you will soon discover whether it takes its origin in the northeast or northwest q u a r t e r : if in the former, y o u

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will, of course, abandon all pursuit of it f u r t h e r ; b u t if it should come from the northwest or west, it will p r o v e the best guide you can follow, to lead you to the discovery o f which y o u are in search. . . . If the reports of several intelligent masters of whaling vessels m a y be relied on, that part of the sea to the northward of D a v i s S t r a i t , which is marked on the charts as Baffin B a y . . . is generally free from field ice, which, from its extent of surface offers the greatest impediment t o navigation. Should y o u find this actually to be the case, it m a y be advisable to stand well to the northward, before you edge a w a y to the w e s t w a r d , in order t o get a good offing, in rounding the northeast point of the continent of A m e r i c a ; whose latitude has not been ascertained, b u t which if a conjecture m a y be hazarded, from w h a t is known from the northern coast of that continent, m a y perhaps be found in or a b o u t the 72nd degree of latitude.

After rounding the American coast, Ross was to steer for Bering Strait and make his way to the Pacific Ocean, where he was to proceed to Kamchatka and turn over copies of his journals to the Russian governor there, with whom arrangements would be made to forward them at once to England. From there Ross was to go to the Hawaiian Islands or New Albion, where he could replenish his ships, and if he chose New Albion he was to take the first opportunity to send still further copies of his journals back to England by overland messengers to Hudson B a y . T h e following year he was to return by the passage he had discovered, if it were possible for him to do so. But before leaving England he was to agree with Buchan on a rendezvous in the Pacific, at which he would take command of the entire fleet, should his subordinate meet him there. When the two commanders met they were to exchange copies of their log books in order to insure at least one set of records reaching the authorities at home. If they decided to return by the passage, one of the vessels must be sent back with the journals by way of Cape Horn; otherwise the entire fleet was to return by that route. In addition to sailing directions, both commanders were given instructions as to the scientific observations they [[44]]

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should make, and furnished with the necessary men and apparatus for compiling such records, for this branch of the work was considered almost as essential as exploration. 1 The instructions given to David Buchan were similar to those given his superior, save in the delineation of the course he was to follow. He was ordered to proceed directly north to Spitzbergen; but as the sea above this island was little known, he was allowed to rely on his judgment when he reached there. It was suggested, however, that an open sea was more likely to be found in the deep water far from land; and, as the ocean north of Spitzbergen had been found free of ice up to the eighty-fourth parallel, it might be navigable still farther to the north. If Buchan found conditions favorable he was to steer directly for the Pole, paying particular attention to his chronometers, as the course after reaching the Pole would depend on them rather than on the compass. He was expected to remain a few days at the Pole, making observations and noting any phenomena of peculiar scientific interest; then he was to head for Bering Strait. Should this route over the Pole be blocked, he was to go around the northern end of Greenland to Baffin Bay. In addition to this, the instructions were careful to point out that although it was highly desirable to get to the Pole, the finding of a passage was, of course, the main object; and further that it was essential to seize every opportunity to add to the existing knowledge of the Arctic regions. The rendezvous for Buchan's ships were to be Lerwick in the Shetland Islands, and Magdalena Bay in Spitzbergen. 2 Before embarking with Buchan, it may interest the reader to hear the opinion of Captain O'Reilly on Buchan's expedition. O'Reilly was a sea captain who had just returned from a voyage up the western coast of Greenland, where he had reached, so he claimed, the seventy-fifth parallel. L· si

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Sailing to the North Pole [he says], has been long a favorite subject for closet lucubration; and as long as a man [Barrow], in such circumstances, chooses to amuse himself harmlessly, or entertain his friends with his effusions through the medium of a magazine, such pursuits are altogether allowable; but where such visionary schemes are in contemplation, as would mislead the public mind, in the same manner as the writer misleads himself, not pausing over facts, and maturely weighing their consequences, the prudent will be careful how they admit his opinions, however plausibly dressed up. . . . A s long as the axis of the earth remains in its present angular position [he concludes with rare good sense], so long will ice be found in those waters, and so long will navigation find obstruction in every attempt to penetrate by the Pole towards the northern Pacific.

With regard to the expedition to Baffin B a y , O'Reilly was more tolerant; in fact he asserted, in view of his own experiences, that a passage might be found in this locality. 3 But in attacking a man of Barrow's temperament he met an antagonist worthy of his steel, for the secretary was not one to let such a challenge pass, especially when it was couched in such ironical terms. Barrow's counterattack bristles with sarcasm; the motives of the critic are held up to question, his opinions ridiculed, and his achievements dismissed as impostures. " T h e glaring folly which prevades every page of Mr. O'Reilly's book," writes the irate secretary, "forms a sufficient guarantee against its mischievous tendency." T o make matters worse, O'Reilly's opinion on the proposed voyage to the Pole turned out to be correct, while Barrow's plan in this direction proved indeed a "closet lucubration." 4 We shall now take up the voyage of David Buchan. On April 25, 1818, the Dorothea and the Trent dropped down the Thames and stood out to sea,5 then turning northward reached Lerwick on the first of May. Despite the elaborate alterations made in the vessels, someone had blundered in his work, for scarcely had the expedition cleared the river when a serious leak was discovered in the Trent. It [[46]]

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was not sufficiently large to cause any apprehension of the vessel foundering, but serious enough to keep the crew employed at the pumps for half their watch, and serious enough to prevent the natives of Lerwick, a number of whom Buchan had hoped to enlist in the undertaking, for he was short-handed, from joining an expedition which they considered as already hazardous enough. T h e leak was not entirely repaired at Lerwick, but the little fleet none the less set forth from that place, steering always due north, until at the end of four days they found themselves within the Arctic Circle, and on the eighteenth reached latitude 72 o 36'. U p to this time the weather had been mild, but now the temperature fell and the wind freshened, until, with only storm staysails set, the ships were bowling along " b u r y i n g their gunwales deep into the w a v e . " T h e endless daylight was a source of fascination to the crew, most of whom had never ventured so far north. And now they fell in with huge masses of ice that threw back the rays of the sun in streams of variegated color. T h e novelty occasioned b y the floating masses [of ice] [writes B e e c h e y , who served in the Trent], was materially heightened by the singular effect produced b y the very low altitude at which the sun cast his fiery beams over the i c y surface of the sea. T h e rays were too oblique to illuminate more t h a n the inequalities of the floes, and falling thus partially on the grotesque shapes, either really assumed b y the ice, or distorted by the unequal refraction of the atmosphere, so betrayed the imagination that it required no great exertion of fancy to trace, in various directions, architectural edifices, grottos, and caves here and there glittering as if with precious metals. So generally, indeed, was the deception admitted, that, in directing the route of the vessel from aloft, we for a while deviated from our nautical phraseology, and shaped our course for a church, a tower, a bridge, or some similar structure, instead of for lumps of ice, which were usually designated by less elegant appellations.

T h e channels between the ice floes now grew narrower until it became necessary to run the ships against some of the ([4711

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large masses in order to force a passage through them; but sometimes the masses were too great to be turned aside, and the vessels were obliged to heave to until a passage was cleared by the movement of the floes. The southern promontory of Spitzbergen was sighted on the twenty-sixth, and Buchan steered his vessels northward along its shores in accordance with the instructions, which ordered him to make a high latitude on the western side of the island. Snow, ice and high winds now came, and the spray thrown up by the plunging vessels fell on the decks and rigging, where it speedily froze into great masses of ice. When the storm abated, the Trent, which had become separated from the Dorothea, found herself in latitude 8o° with the sea open before her; and as the mist cleared off", the ice which had beset the ships was found to be part of the main field. Against this barrier the vessels would have thrown themselves in vain, and in all probability would have been wrecked. Unable to locate her consort, the Trent now sailed toward Magdalena Bay at the northwestern extremity of Spitzbergen, but by good fortune she met the Dorothea before reaching the harbor, and the two ships then stood to the north until they again met the ice field. The crews now viewed the great barrier with the utmost interest. We could perceive [says Beechey], that it was composed of masses too heavy to be turned aside by the bows of our vessels, and too thick and too extensive for the saws with which we were provided to be of any practical utility; in short, as regarded the impracticability of the passage, it was the same formidable body it had been hitherto represented. At the same time it was not that solid continent of ice described by Phipps, nor was its general appearance so unpromising but that the least sanguine among us might entertain a hope that some lucky opening would present itself before long, and enable us to advance a considerable distance beyond the position of the marginal line, which, at that moment, seemed to render our further progress impossible.

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Stopped by this barrier, some of the crew wished to attempt to crash through under press of canvas, but Buchan, who had before experienced the difficulties of navigating in the ice, saw the folly of such a proceeding and ordered the ships to Magdalena Bay, with the intention of waiting there for a more favorable opportunity. The stay at Magdalena Bay was brief—but a scant four days—and on the seventh of June the expedition quitted the harbor and steered to the north. After sailing a short distance, they came to the ice barrier, now in much the same condition as when they had left it. Gliding along under a moderate breeze they skirted the ice looking for an opening. While sailing thus the breeze died out suddenly, and the ships, carried by a heavy swell piling up from the southwest, were driven toward the pack, despite the frantic efforts of the crews to tow them to a place of safety. The great masses of ice toward which the Trent was drifting threatened to overwhelm her should she be hurled against them broadside to, for the heavy swell might dip the gunwale under the ice floes as she rolled, and thus cause her to capsize. This calamity was fortunately averted by keeping the ship's bow towards the ice. As she drew near the pack, the small pieces, called brash ice, became thicker, thus arresting her and holding her fast before she could collide with the main field. The following day the situation changed for the better; and despite her leaky condition, aggravated by this experience, she was able to clear herself, thanks to a northerly breeze, and sail to rejoin the Dorothea. The vessels now proceeded westward until they came to longitude 4 0 30' E., where they met some whaling ships, from whose skippers they learned that the ice to the west was compact enough to hold fifteen of their fellow whalers imprisoned. Captain Buchan, therefore, since he had no desire to join the icebound fleet, decided to return eastward in M

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the hope of meeting with more favorable conditions near the land of Spitzbergen. Accordingly the ships bore off for Prince Charles Island. Here they still found the pack impenetrable, but by good fortune a channel was observed between it and the land. This was an opportunity not to be lost, and Buchan at once turned his vessels into the passage, hoping it might lead to open water. For a while the lead proved a good one; the ships wove their way through the ice past Cloven Cliff, a rock marking the northwestern point of Spitzbergen, but on the twelfth, just as they had passed Red Bay, the ice closed in and prevented them from either advancing or retreating. The water here was so shallow that the bottom could be plainly seen, and the crew feared that the current might drive them aground. The spot at which the vessels were embayed was off the northern coast of Spitzbergen, not far from the place where Phipps had almost abandoned his fleet. A change of tide presently brought some relief to Buchan's ships by breaking up the ice, but as the tide was set toward the land, which was less than a mile off, the vessels soon found themselves drifting dangerously near to the shore. Buchan left nothing untried in attempting to hold back his ships; he drove an iceanchor into the nearest floes and managed to maneuver the Dorothea in such a manner as to place the floe between him and the land. The Trent attempted to duplicate this feat, but was unsuccessful; and it took twenty hours of unceasing effort to bring the ships together. At last the two craft were warped into small bays in the ice floe, which protected them in a measure from the masses of ice drifting by. For thirteen days they lay anchored to the floe. During this time the crew of the Trent had the good luck to discover the leak which had harassed them since they left England. It proved to be a hole in the side of the vessel, which had been covered with pitch in such a way as to conceal it, though the covering was M

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soon washed away when the vessel had put to sea. The damage was speedily repaired, and the crew soon found their ship as tight as any craft could be. While the fleet was embayed in the ice, an adventurous officer of the Dorothea determined to take a small party to the shore near-by in order to improve his time by a little exploration, for pleasant weather seemed to insure a successful outcome to the enterprise. Setting out in the afternoon, the party journeyed rapidly enough, but suddenly a thick fog appeared on the horizon causing a number of the more cautious to return to the ship. The rest kept on, thinking to reach land shortly, but the fog soon rolled in on them, completely shutting off all landmarks from view. There was nothing to be done now save beat a hasty retreat to the ships. This the members of the party attempted to do by retracing their footprints through the snow; but the pieces of ice over which they had come had meanwhile changed their position, completely throwing them off" their course. The progress they made was slow, and accomplished only with great difficulty; leads, as the water lanes are sometimes called, opened from time to time, and they were obliged to ferry themselves across these channels on detached pieces of ice. As the party proceeded, obstacles increased, and in their haste they failed to take the necessary precautions. "Some fell into the water, and were with difficulty preserved from drowning by their companions; while others, afraid to make any hazardous attempt whatever, were left upon pieces of ice, and drifted about at the mercy of the winds and tides." In the hope of attracting attention from the vessels they presently discharged their muskets, the reports of which were plainly heard by those on board; but owing to some strange atmospheric phenomenon the stragglers were unable to hear the answering signals fired by the crews, though cannons as well as muskets were brought into play. At the Œsil

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end of sixteen hours the members of the party were in a state of exhaustion, and ready to abandon all hope of ever seeing their comrades again. Fortunately they had gradually drawn nearer the ships until the master and the mate of the Trent, apprised of their proximity by the reports of the shots, ventured out with lines and poles, and presently found their lost friends. "After eighteen hours' absence," says Beechey, "they all got safely on board, fully determined, in future, to rest satisfied with the view of the shore which was afforded them from the ship, and without the slightest desire to attempt to approach it again by means of the ice." During this time the crews whiled away the hours by watching the antics of various animals, chiefly bears and walruses, that disported themselves on the floes, and occasionally joining in a hunt for these creatures. The ships, meanwhile, were gradually drifting westward. At the end of a week open water was observed from the masthead, though the ice about the vessels was packed closer than ever. A furious gale was then raging over the sea, but, strange to say, the wind appeared to halt and the clouds to disperse when they reached the edge of the pack, so that those on board enjoyed a perfect calm as well as clear weather overhead. At the end of the second week the storm ceased, and the entire field was found to be drifting southward at the rate of three miles an hour; then the ice broke up, allowing the ships to gain the open sea. Captain Buchan now decided to remain near Cloven Cliff in order to take advantage of any opening that might offer itself to him, so he dropped anchor in Fair Haven, not far from the cliff. Here the crews went ashore daily to see from the tops of neighboring hills what the prospects were for putting to sea again. On the sixth of July the ice pack had receded to such a promising extent that Buchan felt the time had come to weigh anchor and try his luck to the north. DM

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Setting sail, therefore, he soon reached latitude 8o° 1 5 ' , but here he found the same impenetrable mass of ice that had baffled him before. The next day, however, an opening was seen in the field, and Buchan, giving orders to crowd on all sail, pushed his way into the channel. It proved to be a narrow, winding strait, whose turns had to be negotiated with the aid of a line passed to men standing on the ice, who checked the bow or stern of the vessel as it tended to collide with the sides of the lead. At noon there was good prospect ahead, but as the day wore on the ice began to close in, gradually destroying the hope of making any appreciable progress in this direction. Nevertheless, Buchan was determined to push on as long as it was possible to gain a foot; ropes were passed and fastened to hooks driven in the ice, and the ships dragged forward by means of windlasses, while saws were used to remove ice obstructions; and thus the fleet was able to proceed a few miles. When the latitude of 8o° 3 4 ' was reached, it became evident to all that this would be the farthest north, for the pack was now found to be drifting southward, carrying the vessels with it; and despite the efforts of the commander, who still refused to abandon his purpose, the fleet, at the end of two days, found itself about three miles farther south. Great was the danger now experienced from the ice that pressed against the sides of the ships, and both the Dorothea and the Trent suffered considerable damage before they could be dislodged. B y the nineteenth of the month Buchan became at last convinced of the futility of attempting to go farther north. He therefore decided to seek the open sea as soon as possible and to renew his attempt in some other locality. It was his plan now to go toward Greenland; then, if he found it impossible to attain a high latitude in this direction, to retrace his steps, double the southern point of Spitzbergen, and try his luck between that island and Nova Zembla. Scarcely had ÍS3Í

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the vessels set their course to the west when a gale of unusual violence broke loose, driving them toward the main ice pack. The Dorothea, being nearer the field, managed to sail into the open ice before the wind had reached its height, but the Trent soon found herself in danger of being hurled broadside against the mass. There was nothing for her commander to do but to sail straight for the pack in the hope of finding a weak spot into which he could drive his vessel. T h e situation was frightful. N o language, I am convinced [writes Beechey], can convey an adequate idea of the terrific grandeur of the effect now produced by the collision of the ice and the tempestuous ocean. The sea, violently agitated and rolling its mountainous waves against an opposing body is at all times a sublime and awful sight; but when, in addition, it encounters immense masses, which it had set in motion with a violence equal to its own, its effect is prodigiously increased. At one moment it bursts upon these icy fragments, and buries them many feet beneath its wave, and the next, as the buoyancy of the depressed body struggles for reascendancy, the water rushes in foaming cataracts over its edges; whilst every individual mass, rocking and laboring in its bed, grinds against and contends with its opponent until one is either split with the shock or upheaved upon the surface of the other.

Preparations were at once made to secure the vessel and drive her head on into the ice, as the bow, reinforced for this very emergency, was better suited to withstand the impact than the sides. Plates of iron were attached to ropes and hung over the sides as fenders; the masts were strengthened by additional tackle, and the hatches were nailed down. As the ship drew near the pack under pressure of the gale each person on board braced himself for the shock. It came. The brig, first plowing through the loose ice that formed the fringe of the pack, crashed into the main body with a force that bent the masts and started the timbers. "The vessel staggered under the shock, and for a moment seemed to recoil; but the next wave, curling up under her counter, drove M

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her about her own length within the margin of the ice, where she gave one roll, and was immediately thrown broadside to the wind by the succeeding wave, which beat furiously against her stem, and brought her lee-side in contact with the main body, leaving her weather-side exposed at the same time to a piece of ice about twice her own dimensions." Placed in this position, the craft was hammered on all sides by large cakes of ice, until the captain, who had been anxiously superintending the maneuvers, concluded that his ship was doomed, and gave orders to prepare to launch the boats and land the supplies on the ice. But even this appeared too hazardous, as it was doubtful if a boat could live in such an angry sea. It was decided, therefore, to drive the vessel farther into the ice pack, where she would be protected from the loose ice. The jib was hoisted, the fore-topsail set, and her head swung around to the pack, then under the impulse of the gale she split a small floe and managed to work herself into a place of safety. After four hours the storm abated, and the crew of the Trent had the pleasure of seeing the Dorothea still afloat in the distance. Her injuries, it so happened, were of a more serious nature than those sustained by the Trent. The latter ship, after considerable effort on the part of her company, got clear of the ice and started to the aid of her consort. Boats were lowered when she came alongside, and by the aid of these the Dorothea was brought out into the open sea in a foundering condition. It was impossible, of course, to think of further exploration, so without the slightest hesitation Buchan ordered his fleet into Fair Haven, the nearest harbor he could reach. Here the vessels were carefully examined. The Dorothea was found to be in a condition that precluded any attempt to sail her among the ice fields. When he understood fully the state of his ships, the commander was sorely tempted to allow the request of Lieutenant Franklin to purM

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sue the work of discovery with the Trent—in fact, the instructions were to continue in one ship if the other were disabled—but this would have meant taking the Dorothea home unescorted, an unwise thing to do, considering her condition. Buchan might, it is true, have transferred his flag to the Trent and sent her consort back to England, but this might be construed as an unwillingness on his part to face the danger of sailing home himself in an unseaworthy craft. A scheme of sending a boat expedition over the ice was considered, but abandoned when the available supplies were found to be insufficient. All things considered, Buchan decided that the wisest course was to give up further exploration and return to England. While the chief carpenter and his assistants were engaged in making the much-needed repairs, the officers and the scientific members of the expedition busied themselves with exploring the island and making observations. With this phase of the undertaking we shall not concern ourselves, as it is beyond the scope of our narrative, and adds nothing to the discovery of the Northwest Passage. On the thirtieth of August the vessels were at last ready for sea, and Buchan brought his company on board. While he had no intention of attempting any further discoveries to the north, he decided to explore the ice barrier as far as Greenland before returning home, in order to see if an opening could possibly be found. He therefore steered his ships along the seventy-fourth parallel to longitude n ° 30' W. which brought them within ten or twelve leagues of Greenland, but the barrier offered him no encouragement. Here the weather became foggy, and ice appeared to windward. Unwilling to risk his men any further in the battered Dorothea, Buchan determined now to abandon all further search for a passage, so he set sail to England, and arrived at Deptford on the twenty-second of October. M

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Commander Ross, whose route we shall now trace, sailed with his little fleet on the twenty-fifth of April, and five days later reached Lerwick, where Commander Buchan joined him the following day. 6 Here the officers of the party were hospitably entertained by Mr. William Mouat, a prominent resident of the place, until the third of May, when Ross weighed anchor and started for Greenland. Little of any consequence took place on the outward voyage; the chief items of interest seem to have been the constant comparison of their respective chronometers between Ross and Parry, in order to test their accuracy, and the dropping overboard of copper cylinders, containing papers giving the positions of the vessels on various dates, which data, it was hoped, would be picked up later by some passing ship or found washed up on a distant shore, and thus something might be learned about the northern currents. On the seventeenth of June the vessels anchored in Vaigat Sound, an arm of the sea on the western coast of Greenland, washing the northern side of Disko Island, the second rendezvous assigned to Ross's fleet. Here they found forty-five whalers at anchor, unable to proceed any farther because of the ice. Ross, thus seeing before him some days of enforced idleness, decided to make the most of his time; the scientific instruments were landed, an observatory erected, and those in charge of the business began their labors. The weather, Ross complains, was hot and sultry. Conditions, however, were not so forbidding as had been anticipated; the ships had been at anchor but three or four days when it was found possible to move them, and attempts were made to work them to the north by slow degrees. While they were being carried to and fro by tidal currents, it was found necessary, on one occasion, to anchor off a Danish settlement on Disko Island. There was a board the Isabella an Eskimo interpreter, named John Sacheuse, who had M

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joined the expedition in England. Wishing to enter into friendly relations with the people at the settlement, Ross sent this man to invite the natives on board. The little village, which consisted of a motley group of fifty souls, part natives and part the offspring of Danes and Eskimos, was not far off. Sacheuse returned presently with a few natives, from whom Ross endeavored to obtain a sledge and some dogs in exchange for a musket. When the natives had come back with the articles desired they were invited into the cabin and regaled with coffee and biscuit. In return for this entertainment they gave an exhibition of their skill in the terpsichorean art, and danced Scotch reels on deck with the sailors, Sacheuse acting the part of master of ceremonies in a manner which, Ross says, could not have been excelled by Beau Nash himself. Ross tells us also the following amusing romantic episode of which Sacheuse was the hero: A daughter of the Danish resident, about eighteen years of age, and by far the best looking of the group, was the object of Jack's [Sacheuse's] particular attentions; which, being observed by one of our officers, he gave him a lady's shawl, ornamented with spangles, as an offering for her acceptance. He presented it in a most respectful, and not ungraceful, manner, to the damsel, who bashfully took a pewter ring from her finger and presented it to him in return; rewarding him, at the same time, with an eloquent smile, which could leave no possible doubt on our Esquimaux's mind that he had made an impression on her heart.

The following day the ice opened and, a fresh breeze springing up, the vessels got under way, making good progress northward without meeting with any serious obstacle. By the third of July they had reached that large archipelago, just south of the seventy-third parallel, known as the Woman's Islands. As the ice to the westward, that is the Middle Ice that lies in the middle of Baffin Bay, appeared firm, Ross clung to the shore, threading his way northward through the bergs and floating masses of ice in order to circumnaviΜ

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gate it, until he came to that little group called the Three Islands. In this vicinity the party were obliged to remain about two weeks, for the ice beset them in every direction; then under a gentle southwesterly breeze, they sailed through an opening accompanied by a fleet of forty whaling vessels. But the channel grew narrower and more intricate as they advanced; the ice floes closed in and held the ships firmly "with the tantalizing sight of open water not a hundred yards ahead." Then the floes separated, and the vessels were warped into open water. During this maneuver the two craft became separated, but on joining forces later in the day they proceeded northward under sail, only to find the ice closing in on them again. This sort of navigation continued for some time; open channels through which the vessels could sail were uncovered, freely alternating with ice packs through which they were obliged to cut their way. T h e y passed the promontories of Devil's Thumb and Horse's Head and at last reached Red Head in latitude 75 o 12', the farthest north for whaling vessels. Here the crews were obliged to resort to the difficult and arduous labor of warping and tracking the ships through ice too compact to permit free navigation. T h e succeeding t w e n t y - f o u r hours [says R o s s in speaking of his arrival at R e d Head], were wholly e m p l o y e d in tracking through the ice, a proceeding which becomes necessary w h e n the channel is too narrow to allow a vessel to beat or be towed against the wind. In executing this service, the whole ship's c o m p a n y was sent on the ice, and a rope was thrown to them, one end of which was fastened to the head o f the foremast, for the purpose of keeping the bight clear of the uneven parts of ice, usually found at the edge o f the field. T h e men h a v i n g hold of the other end, then pulled the ship ahead, marching to music, the musician a l w a y s leading the w a y . A s it sometimes happened t h a t a hole, covered with snow, or a w e a k part was found, the men occasionally tumbled in, b u t as they never let go the rope, t h e y were i m m e d i a t e l y pulled out. W h e n this accident happened to the fiddler, it afforded the sailors great amusement, and t h e y never failed to exercise their wit on the occasion.

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From the point which the expedition had now reached, namely, 75 o 12', to C a p e D u d l e y Digges, which is situated just north of the seventy-sixth parallel, stretched a coastline hitherto unexplored. A l o n g this shore Ross now ventured, and found it to be an immense b a y , or bight, the northern part of which runs westward to Cape Dudley Digges, where it swings abruptly north to the entrance of Smith Sound. In the midst of this b a y stands an immense spiral rock, to which Ross g a v e the name of Melville's M o n u m e n t , in honor of the late viscount from whom he had received his first commission; the bay he called Melville's B a y after the First Lord of the A d m i r a l t y . Along this unknown coast Ross now sailed, stopping from time to time to examine different objects of geographical interest, which he named after various persons he wished to honor. W h e n the vessels reached a wide curve in the coast j u s t west of Melville B a y between C a p e Melville and Cape Y o r k , Ross had the good fortune to meet and to entertain some Eskimos who had never before set eyes upon a white man. While anchored near an ice floe, he saw eight sledges advancing o v e r it to a spot about a mile a w a y . Here the sledges halted. T h e situation required delicate handling, for the natives might attack. Sacheuse was therefore dispatched with a flag of truce to meet them. Crossing over the ice to a small canal that separated him from the Eskimos, be made known his friendly intentions b y signs, but the natives seemed suspicious; with knives in their hands they warned the interpreter a w a y , and showed unmistakable evidences of hostility, until he, b y throwing them some beads and a checkered shirt, managed to secure their confidence. Their curiosity aroused by these strange gifts, they drew near to Sacheuse, and made a gesture of pulling their noses in sign of friendship, to which he replied in kind. Their first questions were to inquire about the ships, asking M

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What great creatures these were? Do they come from the sun or the moon? Do they give us light by night or by day?

The interpreter explained as best he could that the strange creatures were but floating houses inhabited by men such as himself who came from the south; but this they refused to believe, for they had seen the creatures move their wings, and furthermore no one could come from the south as it was a region covered with ice. Sacheuse finally persuaded them to let him cross the little canal that separated him from them, and when he had obtained their consent he returned to the ship to get a plank to bridge the gap. Ross, meanwhile, had been watching the conference through a telescope from the deck of his ship. He noticed the fear and distrust exhibited by the natives, but as Sacheuse appeared to have made some progress in conciliating them, he ordered him, when he came on board, to return with two men and attempt to get in closer touch with these people by crossing the intervening canal. T h e channel having been bridged, the natives permitted the interpreter to cross alone, while he, to show his good will, made them a few trifling presents. Ross now decided to take a hand in the business. Accompanied by Lieutenant Parry and a small escort he advanced over the ice to the spot where Sacheuse had crossed, and calling out to the natives invited them to visit his ship. The Eskimos, charmed by the presents given them, were nothing loath to advance nearer this wonderful object, but when it came to coming on board they demurred, for they still clung to the belief that it was a living thing. Fortunately, one of the boats was drawn up on the ice, and after examining this, which Sacheuse explained to them was a small model of the larger one, they decided to trust themselves on board. As the vessel was moored close to the ice they were able to climb to the deck by means of a rope ladder let down from the bowsprit. Once aboard their (M

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wonder knew no bounds. For one thing their knowledge of wood was limited to the sparse undergrowth that grew in their native haunts, and they seemed unable to identify their idea of this substance with the material from which the ship was made. They even attempted to pick up a spare topmast and carry it away. Objects such as mirrors, watches, glass, clothing and livestock, were shown them, all of which caused them no end of wonder. "In the hopes of amusing them," says Ross, "the violin was sent for, and some tunes were played; they, however, paid no attention to this, seeming quite unconcerned, either about the sounds or the performer; a sufficient proof that the love of music is an acquired taste, and that it requires experience to distinguish between that and similar noises." After this unfavorable experience with the fine arts, Mr. Beverley, surgeon of the Isabella, gave an exhibition of juggling which so alarmed the visitors, who evidently thought it connected with the powers, of evil, that they rushed pell-mell out on the deck. At last, overwhelmed by the marvels they had seen and loaded with presents, they took their departure, and drove off over the ice hallooing with glee. Interesting as this little glimpse of native life in northern Greenland is, we must leave these children of the north behind and proceed with our narrative. Commander Ross presently weighed anchor and proceeded westward to Cape York, where the land begins to curve gradually to the north. He passed this headland on the sixteenth of August and presently came in sight of the Crimson Cliffs. The nature of the coloring matter of these cliffs greatly puzzled the officers, who advanced various theories to account for its composition, some believing it to be a vegetable substance, others, a mineral, and still others, an animal. To obtain further light on the subject, a boat was sent ashore to bring back a sample of the rock; and after this had been examined by the [[6a]]

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curious, who were now as mystified as before, a small quantity was carefully bottled and taken back to England, where Dr. Wollaston, the eminent scientist, pronounced it to be vegetable matter. Two days later the party came in sight of Cape Dudley Digges, long ago discovered by William Baffin, and identified it by a small island, formed in conical shape, which this famous explorer said was situated near-by. As the season was now advancing, Ross determined to continue his voyage instead of stopping, as he had planned, to communicate with an Eskimo chief whom he calls King of the Highlanders, for he had named this part of Greenland the Arctic Highlands. He therefore sailed on past Wolstenholme Island, reminder of the days of Baffin. The coast line he was now surveying agreed remarkably well, so he tells us, with the descriptions left by Baffin, a fact which enabled him to identify readily enough the various landmarks he passed with those set down by his celebrated predecessor. On the nineteenth, when off Hakluyt's Island, a fresh breeze sprang up, and he hastened to take advantage of it, for now, he thought, was his opportunity to examine the great bay (Smith Sound) to the north, through which he might possibly find a passage. He accordingly set all sail and proceeded to work his way northward through the loose ice. The following day he reached Smith Sound, that wide channel leading from Baffin Bay north to the Polar Sea which he, as well as Baffin, mistook for an inclosed bay. "Smith's Sound, discovered by Baffin," says Ross, "was distinctly seen, and the capes forming each side of it were named after the two ships, Isabella and Alexander; I considered the bottom of this sound to be about eighteen leagues distant, but its entrance was completely blocked up by ice; a thick fog soon came on, and we hauled to the westward." With this brief comment does Ross dismiss one of the most important leads he discovered on his entire cruise. It would appear from M

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this statement that he had made but a cursory examination of the place, if indeed he had done that much. According to his own admission he was eighteen leagues (about forty-five miles) from the bottom of the sound, certainly too great a distance to enable him to judge properly the configuration of the land. Doubtless he relied too much on Baffin's report — f o r he had had favorable results in testing the accuracy of that explorer's observations—and seeing but ice to the north concluded there could be no opening in this direction. Ross had now attained his farthest north (76 o 54') and, concluding that there could be no passage in this direction, he turned his ships toward the southwest. In this direction he sailed for some time until, at last, far off on the northwestern horizon, was seen the loom of the land, while at a distance of six leagues a bay opened up, terminated on the south by a headland he called Cape Clarence. A field of ice prevented the commander from entering the bay and examining it as he would have liked to do, so he was forced to continue his journey down the western shore of Baffin Bay. But before leaving the northern waters, he placed several officers at the masthead to scan the coast for any possible openings, while Lieutenant Parry did the same on the Alexander. They reported having seen land completely surrounding the bay. W h a t e v e r m y own notions respecting the real nature of the space passed over in the foregoing run, from C a p e Saumarez [near H a k l u y t Island] to C a p e Clarence, might have been [wrote the commander in summarizing his opinions of the northern land], and whatever m y own expectations were, as to the probability of an opening in this direction: the ardour existing at home for the discovery of a northwest passage, and the confidence with which the supposed situation of such an opening has been transferred to one spot as fast as it was found not to exist in another, render it necessary to recapitulate the circumstances which disprove its existence in this place, which forms the northernmost e x t r e m i t y of Baffin's B a y . O n the 19th of A u g u s t , at fifty minutes past midnight, the

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ship being nearly on the seventy-seventh degree o f north latitude, ten leagues to the westward of C a p e Saumarez, which forms the east side and the bottom of this b a y , the land was distinctly seen. O n the 20th and 21st, when off C a p e Clarence, at the distance of six leagues, the land which forms the west side, and the bottom of this b a y , was also distinctly seen b y the above-mentioned officers [those at the mastheads] and myself, and b y these two observations the coast is determined to be connected all round. A t each of these periods this immense bay was observed to be covered b y field-ice, besides which, a vast chain of large icebergs was seen to extend across it; these were apparently aground, and had probably been driven on shore there b y southerly gales. It was also observed t h a t the tide rose and fell only four feet, and that the stream of it was scarcely perceptible. From these several considerations it appears perfectly certain that the land is here continuous, and that there is no opening at the northernmost part of Baffin's B a y from H a k l u y t ' s Island to C a p e Clarence. E v e n if it be imagined, b y those who are unwilling to concede their opinions while there is yet a single yarn of their hypothesis holding, that some narrow strait m a y exist through these mountains, it is evident, t h a t it must forever be unnavigable, and that there is not even a chance of ascertaining its existence, since all approach to the bottom o f these b a y s is prevented by the ice which fills them to so great a depth, and appears never to have moved from its station.

H a v i n g reached this conclusion, Ross steered his vessels around C a p e Clarence to the large inlet j u s t south of it, which had been visited by Baffin and called by him Alderman Jones Sound. Like Smith Sound, this deep indentation of the coast line is actually a passage to the Polar Sea, though Ross in his brief survey reached the same conclusion as had Baffin, namely, that it was a closed gulf. On the twenty-third of A u g u s t , as the ships were standing toward the shore, tacking to and fro to avoid the ice, Ross made out the north and south points of the sound which he named respectively C a p e Hardwicke and Cape Caledon. A t midnight he saw, or thought he saw, a ridge of mountains extending nearly across the bottom of this gulf, thus showing that it was closed to further navigation. I M

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Up till now the leads to the Polar Sea discovered by Commander Ross, but erroneously supposed by him to be closed inlets, were relatively unimportant, for, as subsequent explorations show, their proper identification as open channels would have led him no farther on his quest, since they gave no access to a navigable passage; but now we come to the eastern terminus of the Northwest Passage, known as Lancaster Sound, where Ross unfortunately made the same error, an error that was to bring down on his devoted head a storm of acidulous criticism from the pen of John Barrow. Perhaps Ross in this instance saw only what he subconsciously expected to see. Lancaster Sound, like the other sounds he had visited, had been discovered by Baffin, and as Baffin had been so accurate in many of his reports, it might be assumed that he was equally so in his opinion of Lancaster Sound. Rounding Cape Cockburn, which marks the northern entrance of the sound, Ross first entered a small bay on the northern shore, named by him Banks Bay, which, like the other bays he had examined, was filled with ice and surrounded by the continuation of the range of mountains mentioned above. This portion of the range he named the Cuninghame Mountains. The ships maneuvered off this coast, dodging the ice packs, and attempting, often unsuccessfully, to keep in touch with each other, until, during the evening of the twenty-ninth, a wide opening appeared to the west, and they stood into it under full sail. The following day, though the weather was thick and cloudy, a sharp lookout was kept for any development that might enable them to get through to the west. About ten [o'clock], we saw the land, which forms the northern side of the opening, extending from west to north, in a chain of high mountains, covered with snow [Ross tells us]. Soon afterwards the south side of this opening was discovered, extending from S.W. to S.E., forming also a chain of very high mountains. In the space, between west and south[[66]]

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west, there appeared a yellow sky, but no land was seen, nor was there any ice on the water, except a few icebergs; the opening, therefore, took the appearance of a channel, the entrance of which was judged to be forty-five miles; the land on the north side lying in an E.N.E. and W.S.W direction, and the south side nearly east and west. Crossing then to the southern entrance of the sound, which he named Cape B y a m Martin, after his personal friend, the comptroller of the navy, Ross found there a magnificent range of hills rising from the sea and terminating to the west in lofty peaks. Thence he beat his way to the westward again, still intent on his mission of discovery, and taking advantage of every puff of wind. T o his surprise, and somewhat to his disappointment, he soon found that the land closed up two-thirds of the strait, though as yet he could not be sure of what lay ahead because of a heavy fog which obscured the true configuration of the coast. During this day [reports the commander], much interest was excited on board by the appearance of this strait; the general opinion, however, was that it was only an inlet. Captain Sabine, who produced Baffin's account, was of opinion, that we were off Lancaster Sound, and that there were no hopes of a passage until we should arrive at Cumberland Strait;7 to use his own words there was "no indication of a passage," "no appearance of a current," "no driftwood," and "no swell from the northwest." On the contrary the land was partially seen extending across, the yellow sky was perceptible; and, as we advanced, the temperature of the water began to decrease. The masthead and crow's nest was crowded with those who were most anxious, but nothing was finally decided at the setting of the sun. Soon after midnight the wind began to shift, and the ship came gradually up, enabling us to stand directly up the bay. I, therefore, made all sail, and left the Alexander considerably astern. A little before four o'clock A.M., the land was seen at the bottom of the inlet by officers of the watch; but before I got upon deck, a space of about seven degrees of the compass was obscured by the fog. The land which I then saw was a high ridge of mountains, extending directly across the bottom of the inlet. This chain appeared extremely high in the center, and those towards the north had, at times, the appearance of islands, being insulated by the fog at their bases. Although a passage in this direction appeared hopeless, IM

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I was determined completely to explore it, as the wind was favorable; and, therefore, continued all sail. . . . Mr. Beverley, who was the most sanguine, went up to the crow's nest; and, at twelve, reported to me, that before it became thick, he had seen the land across the bay, except for a very short space. . . . At half past two, (when I went off deck to dinner) there were some hopes of its clearing, and I left orders to be called on the appearance of land or ice ahead. At three, the officer of the watch, who was relieved to his dinner by Mr. Lewis, reported, on his coming into the cabin, that there was some appearance of its clearing at the botton of the bay; I immediately, therefore, went on deck, and soon after it completely cleared for about ten minutes, and I distinctly saw the land, round the bottom of the bay, forming a connected chain of mountains with those which extended along the north and south sides. This land appeared to be at the distance of eight leagues; and Mr. Lewis, the master, and James Haig, leading man, being sent for, they took its bearings, which were inserted in the log; the water on the surface was at temperature of 34 o . At this moment I also saw a continuity of ice, at the distance of seven miles, extending from one side of the bay to the other, between the nearest cape to the north, which I named after Sir George Warrender, and that to the south, which was named after Viscount Castlereagh. The mountains which occupied the center, in a north or south direction, were named Croker's Mountains, after the Secretary to the Admiralty. Such is the account given b y C o m m a n d e r Ross of the geographical conditions he found at the bottom of L a n caster Sound. H i s report of the nonexistence of a passage through this inlet g a v e rise to the controversy which we shall discuss when we h a v e brought our explorer back to E n g l a n d . Before leaving the sound, however, he made certain that other officers on the Isabella agreed with him. M y opinions [he says], were mentioned to several of the officers, after I had determined to proceed to the southward; and also to Captain Sabine, who repeated, on every occasion, that there was no indication of a passage. Lieutenant Parry's ship, the Alexander, being nearly hull down astern at the time I drew the land, and the ice at the bottom of the bay, it was scarcely possible it could be seen from that ship; for, at that moment, she was very indistinctly seen from the Isabella. M e a n w h i l e there remained a long coast line, the western shore of Baffin B a y , to be explored, and the season w a s grow[[68]]

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ing short. Ross, therefore, put the Isabella about, and picking up the Alexander, which he had left a few miles in the rear, returned to Cape Byam Martin. Rounding this promontory the ships sailed down the coast of Baffin Land, the officers carefully observing the land, and taking elaborate soundings, which in one case showed a depth of over one thousand fathoms. The shore line proved rather uninteresting; certainly there was no possibility of finding an opening to the westward through it, and Ross was obliged to content himself with naming the various capes and bays he discovered as he went along. When the ships reached latitude 70o 40', it was found that no progress could be made against the wind, so Ross determined to sail across to the eastern shore of Davis Strait, a maneuver which would enable him to see if any land existed between the east and west shores of the strait in this latitude, for on some charts a James's Island was laid down in the middle of the strait. When this had been accomplished and the island had been proved fictitious, the vessels were turned back to the western shore. There is little of interest to tell of the rest of the voyage. Ross took his ships down the western side of Davis Strait, making numerous observations on the various prominent geographical points. By the first of October he had reached the entrance of Cumberland Sound, that huge indentation in the coastline of Baffin Land discovered by John Davis in 1585. This Ross would have liked to explore, for it was a prominent lead; but the season was now far advanced, the days were becoming short, fogs and snowstorms were more frequent; and, as his instructions ordered him to leave the ice by the first of October, he deemed it best to steer for home. On the thirtieth he reached the Shetlands, where he was welcomed by Mr. Mouat who had bidden him Godspeed on his departure the previous spring. No sooner had he set foot on shore than he hastened to send a brief sumM

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m a r y of his v o y a g e to the Secretary of the A d m i r a l t y b y the L e r w i c k packet. In concluding his report he s a y s : " N o t an instance of punishment has taken place in this ship, nor has there been an officer, or m a n , in the sick list; and it is w i t h a feeling not to be expressed, that I h a v e to conclude this letter, b y reporting that the service has been performed, and the expedition, I had the honor to c o m m a n d , has returned, without the loss of a m a n . " On the sixteenth of N o v e m b e r C o m m a n d e r Ross arrived in L o n d o n . I t is now our unpleasant d u t y to take u p the acrimonious dispute that raged around the question of w h e t h e r or not Ross had conducted the expedition in a creditable manner, and had exhausted the possibilities of d i s c o v e r y , so far as l a y within his power. Scarcely had he handed in his report when John Barrow started the a t t a c k b y a scathing article in the Quarterly Review, in which he launched into sarcastic comment, not only on Ross's failure to find a passage through Lancaster Sound, b u t on his entire handling o f the expedition down to its minor details. S o m e t h i n g had occurred to turn the secretary against his erstwhile friend, 8 and cause a breach that was never healed. Y e a r s later, when B a r r o w published his Voyages of Discovery and Research (1846), the entire m a t t e r was resurrected b y him and the c o m m a n d e r again brought to book, while the a u t h o r also dismissed Ross's second v o y a g e as an event scarcely w o r t h y of mention, enlivening his strictures with a few scurrilous remarks on the incompetence of the c o m m a n d e r and the m o t i v e s of his generous backer, M r . Felix B o o t h . T h r o u g h o u t the entire business Barrow shows a mean and captious spirit; he carps rather than criticizes. H e is e v i d e n t l y driven on b y a feeling of strong personal dislike for the o b j e c t of his a t t a c k , for it is almost incredible that such animosity could be shown toward a man merely for his failure to accomplish a difficult task, or for h a v i n g displayed s t u p i d i t y , [[70]]

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even if he may rightfully be accused of having done this. To be sure Barrow did not handle Bernard O'Reilly in a gentle manner, but then O'Reilly had started the trouble by ironical allusions to Barrow's views on Polar exploration. Ross replied to his critic years later in a pamphlet entitled Observations on a Work Entitled Voyages of Discovery, etc., in which he refutes the attacks made on him in a manner that is fairly convincing; at least of the two men he shows himself in a much more favorable light. But, when all is said and done, Barrow's opinion of the existence of a passage through Lancaster Sound proved to be correct. The outcome of the expedition was, of course, a disappointment to John Barrow, as he had posed before the world as a champion of the existence and navigability of a northwest passage through Baffin Bay, and the failure of Commander Ross to find it was a blow to his pride. Those who had denied the possibility of a passage were correspondingly elated, and the Edinburgh Review was not the last to sound a note of triumph. In opening his attack on Ross, Barrow leaves us in no doubt as to the state of his feelings on the subject. He says: The lively interest we have taken in discussing the question of a northern communication between the waters of the Pacific and the Atlantic, and the sanguine expectations which we had formed, on no slight grounds, as we thought, of the speedy solution of this problem, (the most interesting as well as the most important which yet remains in geographical discovery) will sufficiently account for the disappointment we experienced, in common with the rest of the world, at the total failure of the two expeditions which had so much excited the attention of Europe, and which bade so fair to set at rest the long agitated question of the existence or non-existence of a Northwest Passage, and the practicability of an approach to the North Pole. The failure of the Polar expedition was owing to one of those accidents, to which all sea voyages are liable, more especially when to the ordinary sea-risk is superadded that of a navigation among fields and masses of ice. Of that other [expedition] we hardly know in what terms to speak, or how to account for it.'

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With this promising beginning, Barrow lets loose his wrath on the unfortunate explorer. N o t only does he censure the commander for his failure to push through promising leads, but he attacks him for petty discrepancies, and for what he (Barrow) considers errors in mere figures of description. A s the account of the voyage contained a number of illustrations, the secretary also assumes the rôle of art critic and gives the explorer the benefit of his views on this phase of his report. When he comes to the more important criticisms we find that Barrow is not satisfied with Ross's conclusions on the configuration of Smith Sound. Ross, it will be remembered, reported that the bottom of this b a y was eighteen leagues from his nearest approach to it, the entrance being completely blocked by ice. Barrow attacks this statement, asserting roundly that Ross was never within eighteen leagues of the entrance, let alone the bottom, of this bay, by appealing to the evidence shown b y the chart, which accompanied the narrative, and the latitude computed by the commander. When he reaches Ross's account of Lancaster Sound, Barrow summons independent evidence to contradict the assertions made by the explorer that every one was confident of the nonexistence of a passage through it, quoting liberally from Captain Sabine. Sabine, so Ross says in his journal, had expressed himself, when speaking of the sound, as satisfied that there was no passage in this locality; but in an article which the captain published shortly after his return he evidently reconsidered his position, for he speaks here of the " m a n y encouraging coincidences" seen in Lancaster Sound, such as the depth of the water and the absence of ice, etc. " T h i s magnificent inlet," he says, "will no doubt be fully explored by the expedition [of 1819] now fitting, and those who are so employed will have the privilege of being the first whose curiosity will be gratified, in following where it m a y lead,

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or in putting its termination, should there prove one, beyond a question." 1 0 In addition to this statement, Sabine placed the seal of his approval on a letter in Blackwood's Magazine, written by a member of the Alexander1 s company, which threw considerable doubt on Ross's positiveness as to the opinions of his officers. 11 O n the 30th of A u g u s t [writes the author of this epistle], when in latitude 7 4 o r thereabouts, we suddenly deepened our water from 150 or 160 fathoms, to the a m a z i n g depth of 750 fathoms, and increased our temperature from 32° to 36 o . O n the weather clearing up, we found ourselves abreast of a large opening, which we had no doubt, from its latitude, was that named b y Baffin, " S i r James Lancaster's S o u n d . " From the northern to the southern headlands, it appeared to be at least 50 miles in width. A s we knew that Baffin had not entered this sound, but stood a w a y from it t o the southeastward, its appearance inspired hope and j o y into every countenance; and every officer and man, on the instant as it were, made u p his mind that this must be the northwest passage·.—the w i d t h of the opening, the extraordinary depth of water, the increased temperature, and the surrounding sea, and the strait so perfectly free from ice, that not a particle was seen floating, were circumstances so encouraging, and so different from a n y t h i n g we had yet seen, that e v e r y heart panted to explore this passage which was to conduct us to all glory and fortune. . . . W e stood directly into the spacious inlet; the w i d t h continued p r e t t y nearly the same, as far as we could see, and not a particle of ice on the w a t e r : neither was there any appearance of land ahead. E v e r y breast beat high, and every one was desirous to mount the c r o w ' s nest, to look out for the opening which should conduct us into a Polar Sea, near the coast of the mainland of America.

So far the writer is clear enough in pointing out that nearly every member of the expedition, or at least those on board the Alexander, regarded Lancaster Sound, when they entered it, as a probable strait leading to the Polar Sea. Then, he says, the vessels were ordered about and sailed out of the sound, to everyone's surprise. " A t the very spot where the Isabella bore up," he then tells us, "the depth of the water was 650 fathoms, and the temperature continued the same as at the entrance: the Alexander was about four or five M

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miles astern of her consort at that time; but not the least appearance of land was visible in the direction of the inlet from her crow's nest." The statement made here that no land was visible to the west from the masthead of the Alexander appears to be in flat contradiction to the testimony of Captain Ross; yet upon closer examination it will be seen that the two observers spoke from different points of view, for at the time Ross saw land across the bottom of the bay, which was for but a brief interval when the fog lifted, the Alexander was so far astern as to be seen only indistinctly. Hence the land may not have been discernible from her masthead. When attempting to express the conclusions he had reached, after mature reflection, on the existence of a passage in this locality the writer of the letter does not seem so confident. He says: You will probably expect from me some opinion as to the existence and practicability of a northwest passage; but I really feel myself to be utterly unable to give any well-founded opinion on the subject. I may, however, with safety assert, that our observations have not supplied us with any grounds for stating, as I perceive has been positively stated in the newspapers, and apparently on demi-official authority that there is no passage from Baffin's Bay into the Pacific. I am perfectly certain, that no officer employed on the expedition ventured to hazard such an assertion, because no one is competent to make up his mind to such a decision.

And he goes on to give as his opinion that the entire western shore of Baffin Bay and Davis Strait is so indented with inlets as to promise the possibility of a passage through some of them, though the passage may not be navigable. Other members of the Alexander s company were more forward in expressing their confidence in the existence of a passage. Lieutenant Parry, in his diary of the journey, tells us, in an entry of the thirtieth of August, that the swell in Lancaster Sound came from the northwest, a circumstance which it was impossible to note without feeling that it was caused by a water connection with a western ocean. Here, M

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he says, his hopes of finding a strait began to grow strong; the farther they penetrated, the more promising did the inlet become.12 Alexander Fisher, surgeon of the Alexander, in looking back on the conditions he observed, concludes that the various openings he saw in the northern part of Baffin Bay were inlets leading to another sea. "The only one of these inlets into which we entered," he says, "was that which Baffin called Lancaster Sound; and from what we ascertained of it, I believe that no doubt remained in the minds of most of those who were there, that it was a strait, or passage, and not a sound."13 During the return voyage, when the excitement of discovery had died down, and the ship's company had only the daily routine of navigation to occupy their minds, the officers of the watch below deck would gather in the gunroom to discuss the merits of the expedition. As the undertaking had failed in its principal object, there was naturally much expression of opinion as to whether or not a strait could have been found, and what should or should not have been done to find it. Captain Sabine appears to have been the center of the disturbance, for shortly after his arrival in England he published a dissenting opinion to Ross's report, and the commander felt obliged to write his fellow officers to learn, if possible, what Sabine had said on the subject, since the captain had expressed himself personally to Ross as satisfied that Lancaster Sound was closed, when the Isabella was reconnoitering that arm of the sea. From William Thom, purser of the ship, Ross received positive assurance that Sabine "did on several occasions publicly express his belief that no passage existed in Lancaster Sound, and that it was useless to look for one before reaching Cumberland Straits." Thom emphasized the attitude of the officers of the Isabella in regard to a passage by saying: "It is, however, a notorious fact that the officers with a few exceptions (if any) had given 0.7 si

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up all idea of a passage existing in Lancaster Sound on the day previous to the one on which we stood further into the bay, and so convinced were they to the contrary, that all interest in the voyage, as far as regarded a passage in that direction, had entirely subsided." 14 Lieutenant Robertson, second in command of Ross's vessel, gives a slightly different version of Sabine's opinion. According to his recollection, the captain, like his superior, did not believe in a strait through Lancaster Sound until the Isabella was nearing the Shetland Islands, when he appeared to change his mind. 15 Young James C. Ross, the commander's nephew, throws some light on the situation in a letter he wrote his uncle just before sailing on Lieutenant Parry's voyage the following year. The young man had evidently attacked the explorer in one of those gun-room seances in words which he never intended should be repeated. In apologizing to Ross, he puts forward the excuse of having spoken hastily when stung by a rebuke which his uncle had administered to him. He closes with these significant words: "I also feel it my duty to acquaint you that I was much misled, as well as other officers, by Captain Sabine, which [fault] I have already acknowledged, and which I hope you have forgiven." 16 It is no easy matter, in glancing over the documents, to classify the various officers who expressed their theories into two categories: believers in a passage through Lancaster Sound, and nonbelievers. In matters of this kind, where there is much to be said on both sides, men are apt to alter their opinions as they ponder over the circumstances and exchange their views with other men. Undoubtedly this took place on board both ships during the return voyage. Yet there seems to have been but one or two who firmly believed that there actually was a passage through the sound; at best the majority of the disputants considered it a promising possibility. This was especially so with the officers of the [[76]]

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Alexander, none of whom had seen Croker's Mountains across the bay. When Secretary Barrow showed his disgust with the results of the expedition, and announced his intention of starting another voyage the following year, those who had inclined to the theory of a strait were anxious to magnify their belief in order to secure a berth in the coming venture. Ross was not considered for the post of commander of the new undertaking, but the position was given to Lieutenant Parry, and with him went Captain Sabine and several other officers of the Isabella and Alexander. John Ross was never again put in command of an expedition backed by the government; and in the course of time, as the breach between him and Barrow widened, his fellow officers sided with the latter. Ross, for his part, made at the time a gallant defense of his position,17 but argue as he might nothing could alter the stand taken by Barrow, though the secretary's opinion of Commander Ross's incompetency was not shared by his colleagues of the Admiralty; in fact, Ross was presently given a captaincy in appreciation of his services. Years later, in commenting on his treatment at the hands of his superiors, he said: Let no one, however, suppose that the chiefs of the department [Admiralty], of which the author of this work [Barrow's Voyages] was Second Secretary, ever participated in the views and opinions he has expressed respecting my conduct. From the Lords of the Admiralty I received continual evidences of professional approbation and unqualified personal esteem; and no wonder, for they have generally been men who could appreciate my services and they have always been gentlemen,18

The Edinburgh Review, of course, warmly espoused the cause of Commander Ross, whose explorations appeared to have disproved the claims advocated by the Quarterly through its contributor, Secretary Barrow. In a truly ironical vein, the Scotch magazine points out the folly of blaming either the navigator or nature for failing either to dishñ

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cover or to provide a passage. Captain Cook had been sent southward to find an Antarctic continent, yet no one abused him for his lack of success; but now that there was a craze for a Polar sea, the public with deplorable inconsistency blamed Commander Ross for not having found it. The true purpose of exploration, continues the article, is to find out what exists in a specific locality, and it is consequently poor taste, and rather absurd, to attack explorers for not having found what it was hoped would be there. Then, with what is doubtlessly intended for a slap at Barrow and his adherents, the writer continues: The anxiety for this object [discovery of a passage], as we deduce from some hints in his [Ross's] book, has persecuted him, since his return, in a manner that does not appear very creditable to those who have set themselves up as its champions. Indeed we have, even here, heard more than enough of the heat which has been excited on this occasion. We leave it to those who have so acted, to determine, and to show by their conduct, whether the unwillingness to abandon their hypothesis, has not been a stronger move for this pertinacity than the advancement of science.1*

But it was precisely this pertinacity, so laudable in the present instance, since it led to a solution of the problem, that brought about the second expedition to Baffin Bay, known as Parry's first voyage.

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B

E F O R E the year 1818 had drawn to a close the Admiralty, urged on by Secretary Barrow, whose confidence in the existence of a passage never wavered, authorized an expedition for the following year. The undertaking was a momentous one, for thanks to the courage of its commander, Lieutenant Parry, assisted by favorable weather conditions, it was able to penetrate as far as McClure Strait (longitude 1 1 3 0 46') and leave a mark which was never surpassed by ships sailing from Baffin B a y in that latitude. Parry was undoubtedly one of the greatest of Arctic navigators. In his famous ships, Fury, Hecla and Griper, he opened up a vast, icebound region hitherto unknown ; and later, when he undertook to attain the North Pole over the ice from Spitzbergen, he reached latitude 82 o 45 and set another mark for explorers in that direction. Parry's farthest west and farthest north remained unsurpassed for many years. True, Parry had the advantage of being the first of modern explorers in the Arctic, but the fact that his successors were unable to outdistance him for a long period of time shows the magnitude of his achievements. William Edward Parry was born at Bath on December 19, 1790, the fourth son of Dr. Caleb H. Parry. He entered the Royal N a v y at the early age of thirteen, his first appointment being to Admiral Cornwallis's flagship, then in service off the French port of Brest. After this cruise, Parry served in the North Sea and the Baltic. He was given the rank of lieutenant in 1 8 1 0 , and for the next three years held a position on the frigate Alexandria, engaged in protecting pi]]

the whale fishery about Spitzbergen. The service he saw on this vessel proved to be of the greatest value, as it placed him on the list of those familiar with the Arctic, and led to his selection as commander of the Alexander, under John Ross. During the time he was engaged on his northern cruises, he took advantage of his opportunities to improve his fitness for his future work by studying navigation and the practical side of astronomy. He also made numerous charts of the Norwegian coast and the seas about the Shetland Islands, for which he received the thanks of the Admiralty. This done, he spent four years on the North American station, where he found sufficient leisure to write a book entitled Nautical Astronomy by Night, which was published in 1816. As we shall describe in detail Parry's activities in the Arctic in connection with his voyages, it is unnecessary to mention them here. Suffice it to say that the explorer was made a commander in November, 1820, as a mark of appreciation for what he accomplished on what is known as his "first voyage," and was presently elected a fellow of the Royal Society. A year later he was raised to the rank of post captain, receiving also the position of acting hydrographer to the Admiralty. In May, 1829, he became Sir William Parry, a well-earned knighthood to be sure, and one which reflects as much glory on the order as on the recipient of the accolade. Three years before his death, which occurred in 1855, he was advanced to the rank of rear admiral. The Admiralty selected for the coming expedition two ships: the Hecla> a naval vessel of 375 tons, of the type known as a bomb, and the Griper, originally a gun brig, of 180 tons. The former ship was built in 1815, and was consequently a new and substantial vessel, selected because she boasted a capacious hold in which a large quantity of supplies, so necessary for a prolonged stay in the Arctic, could be comfortably stowed. The smaller vessel was to have her M

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deck raised in order to increase her carrying capacity. 1 In addition to these alterations, the ships were given a thorough overhauling to strengthen them to meet the rough usages of the northern waters. The plan adopted for the work was similar to the one used in repairing the Isabella and the Alexander, which vessels, as we have seen, withstood fairly well the buffets of the Arctic seas. The ships were rigged as barks, as this type of vessel could be handled by a lesser number of men than a full-rigged ship, and had been found by experience to be the most serviceable for navigating amidst ice floes. The Admiralty saw to it that the expedition was well supplied. There were placed on board provisions for a two years' cruise, including fresh meats and soups, carefully packed in tin cases. A generous supply of antiscorbutics, consisting of lemon juice, vinegar, sauerkraut and pickles, was taken along to prevent an outbreak of the dreaded scurvy. The ballast was made up of coal, thus insuring an ample supply of fuel for the winter months. To secure warmth for the crews, during the period when the ships would be laid up in the ice, and at the same time to free them from imprisonment below decks, large housing cloths were provided, which were to be laid over planks supported by spars lashed between the masts in such a way as to form a shed running the entire length of the deck.The money expended on supplies and comforts was well spent, for Parry reported on returning from his voyage that out of the ninety-four men under him only one failed to survive the hardships. The personnel of the officers' mess was made up largely of men who had served their apprenticeship under Ross and Buchan. Indeed there was now grouping itself around Parry a nucleus of explorers who were to carry on the burden of Arctic discovery during the first half of the nineteenth century. There were in all sailing under him eighteen men who M

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had gone out on the expeditions of the previous year. They were, on the Hecla: Captain Sabine, astronomer; F. W. Beechey, lieutenant; W. H. Hooper, purser; Alexander Fisher, assistant surgeon; Joseph Nias, W. J. Dealey, Charles Palmer, J. C. Ross and John Bushnan, midshipmen; James Halse, clerk; John Allison, Greenland master; and George Crawford, Greenland mate; while on the Griper were to be found H. P. Hoppner, lieutenant; C. J. Beverley, assistant surgeon; Andrew Reid and A. M. Skene, midshipmen; Cyrus Wakeham, clerk; and George Fife, Greenland master. Besides these there were, no doubt, many of the crew and noncommissioned officers who had seen service in the Arctic under these officers before. The Griper was commanded by Lt. Matthew Liddon, while Parry hoisted his flag on the Hecla. Lieutenant Parry received his commission on the sixteenth of January, and his instructions a few days before sailing. The influence of Secretary Barrow is plainly seen in these orders, for the commander is told to proceed immediately to Lancaster Sound as the most promising opening to the west. To reach this, he is to go directly to Davis Strait, and to shape his course up the western shore of Baffin Bay to the sound, where, if a strait is found, he is to pass through it and make his way to Bering Strait. If, however, no opening is discovered in this locality, the expedition is to proceed to Alderman Jones Sound. Should it fail to find a passage here, it is to continue to Smith Sound and to explore this inlet thoroughly. As a last resort Parry is to return southward to try his luck in Cumberland Sound, or any opening in the neighborhood which may appear promising. But these instructions are to be adhered to only if conditions permit. Should the expedition arrive at Davis Strait too early in the season, when the ice blocks the route to the north, Parry is to begin operations in Cumberland Sound or M

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some adjacent inlet, while he may also modify his orders to the extent of going up the east instead of the west side of Baffin Bay, should this be found more practical, "always bearing in mind," so run the instructions, " t h a t it is an important object of the expedition, that Lancaster Sound be thoroughly examined by you, and afterwards those of Jones and Smith, if you should have failed in previously finding a passage to the westward." For Parry's guidance in case he should reach the Pacific, his instructions contained orders similar to those of Ross and Buchan, that is, he was to go to Kamchatka and deliver copies of his journals to the Russian governor there, who would forward them to St. Petersburg. This done, Parry was to replenish his ships at the Hawaiian Islands. In case he found himself obliged to winter on the northern coast of the American continent, he was to get in touch with one of the fur companies by means of the Eskimos, and thus communicate with England. Meanwhile, the Lords of the Admiralty were getting underway another expedition which was to proceed overland from the western shore of Hudson Bay northward to the Arctic Ocean at the mouth of the Coppermine River. On arriving at this point, it was to continue eastward, exploring the coast thoroughly in order to obtain some knowledge of its geography for the use of Lieutenant Parry, should he be successful in reaching there. This undertaking was placed under the able leadership of John Franklin, erstwhile commander of the Trent. Franklin took with him Midshipman George Back, who had served under him on that vessel, and who was to earn a splendid reputation in the northern latitudes of the American continent. As this expedition never got in touch with Parry, it has no bearing on the present voyage, but it will be discussed later as a contribution to the work of discovering the Northwest Passage.

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The vessels left Deptford on May 4, 1819, and dropped down the Thames to the Nore, where they came to anchor. A few days were spent here, during which a large supply of elaborate scientific instruments was taken on board; then on the eleventh of the month the ships set sail for Davis Strait. The voyage was uneventful enough. The Hecla breezed along steadily, stopping occasionally to take her less speedy consort in tow. The tedium of the crossing was relieved somewhat by the practice of throwing overboard every day a bottle containing a note of the ships' position, with a request that the finder would forward it to the Admiralty. This system, the reader will remember, was also used by Ross; the results had proved satisfactory enough to merit its repetition, for a bottle had been found in Killala Bay, Ireland, after it had floated 1,080 miles. By the twentythird of June, the explorers had reached the entrance to the strait over toward the coast of Baffin Land. The following day, when the fog cleared, a line of bergs was visible, which, owing to the peculiar atmospheric conditions then prevalent, were seen reflected in an inverted position against the sky. The ice through which the vessels had been advancing now closed in on them, holding them immovable. So long as the wind blew toward the ice this condition was not dangerous but when it shifted, the ice broke up and a heavy swell hurled the blocks of frozen water against the sides of the ships with a force that would have sunk an ordinary craft. After considerable labor the vessels were worked out into the open sea to the eastward. The first attempt to move up the western shore of the bay having failed in this manner, Parry called his pilots into consultation to get their opinions as to what should be done in order to comply with his instructions to sail northward along the coast of Baffin Land. George Fife, of the Griper, expressed his opinion that a successful attempt Ρ 61

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might be made off M t . Raleigh, the narrowest part of the strait, and as his advice appeared in keeping with the instructions, a northerly course was accordingly set along the edge of the ice. T h e y continued in this wise until almost the end of July, being driven gradually toward the coast of Greenland, for the ice pack was firm and offered no opening to the west. During this time they spoke to a whaler from Hull, which they sighted sailing southward, and learned from her skipper that she had left in latitude 74 o a large fleet of fishing vessels that had found themselves unable to proceed any farther to the north on account of the ice. This condition, Parry recalled was the same as that encountered on the voyage of the previous year; it was, therefore, in all probability chronic at this season. Parry now steered his vessels up the coast of Greenland. On reaching the seventy-third parallel, he determined to force his way westward through the pack known as the Middle Ice, and to get to the open water which his previous observations had led him to expect would be found there, for he feared to overshoot Lancaster Sound if he sailed farther to the north. For several days the crew were kept busy warping the ships through the leads, sometimes taking an unfavorable channel in the fog, sometimes caught in between the packs, until on the twenty-seventh of the month they broke through into an open sea. The way was now clear and, impelled by a fresh breeze, they bowled along to Lancaster Sound, pounded occasionally by the loose ice that covered the bay. A t half past five on the afternoon of the thirtieth, they saw before them the high lands of Possession Bay, an inlet near the southern entrance to the sound, while back of it the lofty Byam Martin Mountains reared their snowcapped peaks toward the sky. Parry had reached the entrance to Lancaster Sound just a month earlier than the previous year, though he had sailed from England much I M

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later. He attributed his success to the confidence he felt in the existence of open water west of the great ice field in the middle of Baffin Bay, a confidence he had gained by his experience under Ross. As the ships entered the sound, the officers swarmed to the mastheads to look for the alleged Croker's Mountains which, as Ross had reported, blocked the bottom of the great inlet. Parry had now reached the critical point of his voyage, when he was to settle once and for all the question of a passage through Lancaster Sound; and it may be said that if no strait had been found here, there was no possibility, as subsequent explorations have shown, of finding a navigable passage in this part of the world. We are here now [August i] about to enter and explore that great sound or inlet which has obtained a degree of celebrity beyond what it might otherwise have been considered to possess, from the very opposite opinions which have been held with regard to it [says Parry], T o us it was particularly interesting, as being the point to which our instructions more particularly directed out attention; and, I may add, what I believe we all felt, it was that point of the voyage which was to determine the success or failure of the expedition, according as one or other of the opposite opinions alluded to should be corroborated. It will readily be conceived then, how great our anxiety was for a change of the westerly wind and swell, which, on the ι st of August, set down Sir James Lancaster's Sound, and prevented our making much progress.

As the Griper had been found to be a much slower vessel than the Hecla, Parry determined to leave her behind while he made a dash up the sound; thus no more time than was absolutely necessary would be lost in ascertaining the presence of a passage in this direction, and if none were found the vessels might all the more speedily search for a strait farther to the north. Lieutenant Liddon was accordingly instructed to betake himself to the middle of the sound near the eighty-fifth meridian, where the Hecla would meet him on returning from her search. pel

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By noon of the following day, Parry found himself in longitude 78 o west of Greenwich, in a position which gave him a distinct view of both sides of the sound. On the southern shore rose lofty, snow-clad peaks, while to the north lay a comparatively low and undulating land. The wind was not favorable at this time; head breezes alternating with calms do not make for satisfactory progress; but astern of her consort the sluggish Griper was coming along with studding sails drawing under a spanking easterly wind. When the breeze reached the Hecla, all sails were set, and the ships sped through the water up the sound. Not a soul on board lingered below deck during the next few hours; the mastheads were crowded with officers, and every vantage point on the decks below was occupied by some member of the crew. As they entered the sound, they saw to the south the large bay of N a v y Board Inlet. Sailing westward, they presently uncovered on the starboard beam a huge gulf to which was given the name of Croker Bay as compensation to the Secretary of the Admiralty for the loss of Croker's Mountains, now relegated to the limbo of mythology; but Parry qualified his designation of the inlet as a bay by saying that his brief glimpse of it did not permit him to determine whether or not there was land across the bottom; he considered it possible that a passage might be found there leading to a northern ocean. The course was now due west, and under the impelling force of the strong easterly breeze the Hecla soon lost sight of her consort. The weather was clear and the sea free from ice, save for a few large bergs, so that there was nothing to prevent the ships from pressing forward with safety. On reaching the eighty-third meridian, the wind increased; sail was taken in, the topgallant yards sent down, and everything made ready to bring the ship about should land suddenly appear across her bows. At this point breakers were

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seen ahead, caused apparently b y a reef of rocks. T h e soundings, which g a v e a depth of seventy-five fathoms, showed that the phenomenon had probably been produced b y a l o w lying bank of ice, y e t Parry marked the place on his chart as a warning to future navigators. N e a r the eighty-fifth meridian the Griper came up near the Hecla, and the two vessels now proceeded westward together. B y the fourth of A u g u s t they had passed 86° 30' coming abreast of the promontory on the northern shore named C a p e Fellfoot b y

Captain

Sabine. T h i s appeared to form the termination of the coast. Great was the rejoicing among the officers and crews. As the haze, which still prevailed in the south [writes the explorer], prevented our seeing any land in that quarter, and the sea was literally as free from ice as any part of the Atlantic, we began to flatter ourselves that we had fairly entered the Polar Sea, and some of the most sanguine among us had even calculated the bearing and distance of Icy Cape [near Bering Strait], as a matter of no very difficult or improbable accomplishment. This pleasing prospect was rendered the more flattering by the sea having, as we thought, regained the usual oceanic color, and by a long swell which was rolling in from the southward and eastward. On the Griper a similar excitement was in evidence. W e find in the diary of Alexander Fisher the following pertinent entry under date of the fourth of A u g u s t : The momentous question so aften alluded to in the course of this narrative, (and indeed a subject of conversation for nearly a twelve month past,) has this day been decided in the manner in which I always thought it would be, that is, that no land exists on the west side of Lancaster Sound, where it was said to have been seen last year; for we were to-day at noon in longitude 86° 56' W., which is nearly three degrees to the westward of where it was laid down. s B u t now the expedition, which had entered so joyously into this promising lead, was doomed to a serious setback. T h e ships had come almost to the ninetieth meridian when there appeared to the westward a large, compact ice floe that

blocked

completely

any Μ

progress in that

direction.

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Parry, therefore, turned his vessels northward, skirting along the barrier in the hope of finding an opening, but after sailing a few miles in this direction it was seen that no passage would be found between the ice and the northern shore. Presently the weather cleared, and the lookout discerned from the masthead an opening far away to the south, over which hung a water sky, showing the absence of ice. It was the huge strait stretching southward to the Gulf of Boothia, which Parry called Prince Regent Inlet. A breeze springing up from the northeast, the vessels were put about and headed for the inlet. Those on deck could now get a good view of the body of water they were approaching. Its width they estimated as over ten leagues, and as far as they could see no land was to be discovered beyond it. Between its eastern shore and the compact mass of ice that covered the western side lay a broad, open strait into which Parry now sailed, hoping to find in a lower latitude the passage he had been obliged to abandon farther north. The two promontories forming the western entrance to this inlet he named Cape Clarence and Cape Seppings, while to a small archipelago he found near them the name of Prince Leopold was given. Here Parry halts his narrative for a moment to note the increasing irregularity of the compasses whose aberrations had become so serious as to lead to their being abandoned. These fluctuations, which had become greater as the ships bore westward, now increased still more as they went to the south. The vessels, which were headed south-southwest, were found by the Heclas compasses to be steering northnorthwest, while the heavier cards remained pointing in whatever position they were placed, regardless of the ship's course. The reason for this strange performance was, of course, the close proximity of the Magnetic Pole, later discovered on the western side of the peninsula of Boothia by James C. Ross; that is in a direction south of the locality M

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where the Hecla and Griper were now sailing. The instruments, now being useless, were dismounted together with their binnacles and stored in the carpenter's room for the rest of the season, the azimuth compass being alone kept on deck. Parry now drove his ships southward along the ice barrier, stopping on one occasion to send ashore Lieutenant Beechey, the artist of the expedition, together with Captain Sabine and Lieutenant Hoppner, for the purpose of making scientific observations. A dark sky to the southwest presently gave hopes of finding a passage beyond the barrier, particularly as the inlet showed a tendency to widen, but on the morning of the eighth the lookout reported the ice closing in toward Cape Kater on the eastern shore, thus cutting off further progress. And yet no land was to be seen to the southwest, though the high visibility would have disclosed anything of this nature within ten or twelve leagues. As a strong wind was blowing from the north, Parry thought it inadvisable to run too close to the pack; the helm was put down and the ships, quickly responding to it, swung up into the wind. In thus giving up the attempt through Prince Regent Inlet, Parry was careful to point out what he believed to be promising indications of a passage. He considered both shores of this arm of the sea to be islands through which communications would eventually be discovered leading to Hudson Bay, either through Roe's Welcome or Repulse Bay. There might also be a channel between the western side of the inlet and the northern coast of America; thus one could account for the flood tide coming into the inlet from the south, by assuming that it flowed from the Polar Sea around the southern point of the western shore. This tide also ran down to the Welcome, for navigators who had been to the northern parts of Hudson Bay all spoke of a strong current from the north. There should be no difficulty in penetrating EM

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farther south so Parry thought, if those making the attempt simply watched for suitable openings; otherwise it would indeed be an onerous task, since the ice in this locality was more compact than that to the north. Parry determined to return north and again try his luck by attempting to break through the ice, this time between Prince Leopold Islands and Maxwell Bay on the northern shore of Barrow Strait. Sailing northward, he made leisurely progress, stopping to explore one or two points on the eastern coast, notably Port Bowen, where he stepped ashore and penetrated some little distance inland, accompanied by Midshipman Ross. A light breeze enabled the ships to set sail for Prince Leopold Islands; but unfortunately the ice was now found to be more abundant in this neighborhood than before, so the expedition was unable to approach the archipelago. Parry therefore decided to improve his time by going ashore and exploring the land, in the hope of ascertaining something of the extent of the ice before him. Taking with him Captain Sabine and Mr. Hooper, the purser, he started for shore after sending word to Lieutenant Liddon to make up a party for the same purpose from the officers of the Griper. They landed in one of the valleys with which the eastern coast abounds, and at once ascended a very steep hill on the south side of the ravine. On reaching the top, about six or seven hundred feet above sea level, they directed their gaze to the northwest, but could see no trace of open water across the fields of ice that extended from the shore; yet they had the satisfaction of noting the absence of any land likely to hinder them from proceeding. On the summit of this hill the party deposited, under a mound of stones, a bottle containing a notice of the discovery made by Parry's men. On the seventeenth the ships were again under way. In the afternoon the weather cleared, and disclosed to the east M

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a prominent headland, the eastern entrance to Prince Regent Inlet, which Parry named Cape Y o r k after his Royal Highness, the Duke. As there was no prospect of getting to the westward for the present, the ships were headed north with the intention of cruising about until the ice broke up, if an opening could not be found immediately. The course lay to the east of the one taken in going into the inlet, and brought the party in due time to the northern shore of Barrow Strait in the neighborhood of Hobhouse Inlet. From there Parry cruised westward past Maxwell B a y , which was free from ice and could easily have been entered; but now there was more promising business afoot, for Barrow Strait had suddenly cleared, and there was nothing to impede the passage of the ships, save lack of wind. Nevertheless the ships gradually moved westward, under the impulse of fitful breezes, until they came abreast of an island which the commander named after Lieutenant Beechey. Here the coast, which had appeared continuous since leaving Baffin B a y , except for small bays and inlets, turned northward, exposing a vast extent of sea. This was named the Wellington Channel. Parry found this diversion a welcome relief from the monotony of an unbroken shore line, which he feared might take an unexpected turn to the south and cut off further progress westward; but now his doubts were dispelled, and he concluded that he had at last reached the Polar Sea. The long, magnificent channel he had sailed in from Baffin Bay he named Barrow Strait in recognition of the services performed by the secretary in behalf of Arctic exploration, while the land now seen in the offing to the westward he called Cornwallis Island in honor of his first naval friend and patron. Though two-thirds of the month of August had now elapsed [he says], I had every reason to be satisfied with the progress which we had hitherto made. I calculated upon the sea being still navigable for six weeks to

M

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come, and probably more, if the state of the ice would permit us to edge away to the southward in our progress westerly: our prospects, indeed, were truly exhilarating; the ships had suffered no injury; we had plenty of provisions; crews in high health and spirits; a sea, if not open, at least navigable; and a zealous and unanimous determination in both officers and men to accomplish, by all possible means, the grand object on which we had the happiness to be employed.

On the morning of the twenty-third a fresh breeze ruffled the surface of the water, and a course was laid for Cornwallis Island. Wellington Channel, it is true, offered an alluring prospect of open water, but as the route to the Pacific did not lie that way Parry felt no hesitation in selecting a westerly course, though he qualifies his decision by saying that he would have entered the channel with no qualms had the passage to the west been blocked by ice, for a divergence of a degree or so from the direct route to Icy Cape would have made no appreciable difference in the distance. The outlook was favorable; the ships were soon bowling along under a fresh breeze, making good time to the west. When abreast of Cape Hotham on Cornwallis Island the enthusiasm of the crew was suddenly dampened by the appearance of an ice barrier extending across the path, through which no opening could be descried. Lieutenant Beechey mounted to the crow's nest, anxiously scanning the sea for an hour until he discovered a place in the barrier where the ice seemed less compact. The Hecla was at once driven into the breach, and after a quarter of an hour's "boring" succeeded in forcing a passage, closely followed by the Griper. The character of the land now began to change; the high, precipitous cliffs of North Devon gave way to the sloping coast line of Cornwallis Island. Directing his glance to the southward, Parry noticed a small inlet—Cunningham Inlet—and to the westward of this the headland of Cape Bunny which marks the entrance to Peel Sound. On reachh si

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ing Griffith Island, a small island located off Cornwallis, Parry again found himself hemmed in, but an unusual change in the direction of the wind led him to the conclusion that whatever might be the condition of the ice ahead of them, he need have no fear of being stopped by a land barrier. From the time he entered Lancaster Sound until he had passed the western end of North Devon Island, the winds had blown either due east or due west; but now a fresh breeze came down from the north, and he deduced from this that the land on his starboard side was no longer contiguous, but rather a group of islands broken by channels down which the northerly winds could blow. Heartened by this assumption, which happened to be correct, Parry drove his vessels westward, soon to find himself in the main channel, with Lowther Island to the north and the bold promontory of Cape Walker to the south. It now became necessary to proceed with caution, using the lead continuously, for the ships were passing by the small islands that mark the end of Barrow Strait, and the water was becoming comparatively shallow. An ice barrier, blocking the entrance to Melville Sound, forced Parry to steer a northerly course, and here to his delight he found an open channel extending westward along the shore of Bathurst Island. Entering it he soon arrived in Graham Moore Bay, a large indentation on the western coast of the island, where he saw from the masthead an expanse of water of such magnitude as to lead him to fear that the vessels might become separated when sailing through it. He therefore hove to, dispatching a boat to the Griper for the purpose of fixing a rendezvous in case the ships lost sight of each other. But the danger was not so great as he feared, for on nearing Byam Martin Island the ice barrier took a northerly turn, thus shutting off access to the west. The ships were thereupon headed southward, but meeting with no opening in this diM

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rection they were, perforce, obliged to retrace their course and return to the island. Blocked in two directions Parry determined to sail northward around the island and come down the channel on its western side. Before making the attempt, he sent ashore a small detachment to observe the situation and advise him as to the feasibility of the plan. Captain Sabine, who had charge of the party, was ordered to pay particular attention to the magnetic variation of the compass, as Parry was anxious to determine the meridian on which the compass pointed due south. After setting up their instruments the scientists discovered that the variation had changed since they had made their last observations on the shores of Prince Regent Inlet, from 128 o 58' W. to 165 o 50' E . , showing that they had passed the meridian on which the Magnetic Pole was situated. Parry, with these calculations before him, determined that the meridian in question was in the vicinity of ioo° west longitude—actually it was between 96o and 97 o —but the precarious condition in which the vessels were placed at present prevented him from making further observations and reducing his deductions to a greater degree of precision. Little of interest was found on the island save the remains of some Eskimo huts, which led the explorers to believe that men had inhabited the place very recently. As fog was now settling about the ships, the shore party decided to return before they lost their bearings. B y now the wind was blowing lightly from the east, making navigation difficult, and the commander was obliged to satisfy himself with standing off and on, checking his position by the depth of the water and the location of the ice. When the fog lifted, open water was seen off the southern point of the island. The plan to sail northward was, therefore, abandoned; instead the vessels were pointed for the channel ahead; but the explorers were still doomed to disappointment, for the fog settled M

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down again, compelling them to remain close to the shore. Under these unfavorable conditions, Parry hit upon a novel way of navigating his ships. The Hecla being ahead of the Griper, her pilot was ordered to steer his vessel by keeping her directly ahead of her consort, a maneuver which he accomplished by keeping the masts of the following vessel constantly in line; while those in charge of the Griper naturally followed the Hecla in the same manner; thus a fairly straight course could be held without the aid of landmarks or compass. By the first of September the sun was beginning to dip below the horizon, giving warning that the Arctic day was coming to a close. By this time the vessels had managed to leave Byam Martin Island astern, and were approaching Melville Island at a spot known as Griffiths Point. As the wind was blowing too lightly to permit any headway, a landing party was sent ashore to make the usual observations. While they were thus engaged, the main ice pack, which till then had kept off to the south, forming a passage between it and the land, began to close in; the boats were immediately recalled, the yards were squared and, taking advantage of a light breeze that had sprung up, the ships bore to the westward. Parry was now on the lookout for a suitable harbor in which to pass the winter; but as it was still possible to proceed on his course for some little time, the two excellent harbors of Skene Bay and Bridport Inlet were passed by. Perhaps he had decided that before putting up for the winter it would be well to cross the hundred and tenth meridian, thus securing for his followers the £5,000 bounty promised by Parliament to the first ship to reach that point. At any rate, he made note of the fact that he had earned the reward, for when, on the fourth of the month he attained longitude 1 io° W., he commemorated his achievement by naming a near-by headland, Bounty Cape. The commander, in announcing to [[98]]

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the crew that their efforts had entitled them to the prize, took the opportunity thus offered to urge them to further exertions, explaining to them that if they could only penetrate a few degrees westward before setting up for the winter they might achieve their purpose of finding the passage before the end of the following year. His remarks on this occasion did much to rouse the enthusiasm of his men, for the progress made thus far boded well for the future. The broad strait of Lancaster Sound had been passed; a sea, more or less open, had been discovered beyond it, interspersed with islands in such a manner as to give promise of more than one opening, should the present one be found impassable; and to crown it all they had also reached the first landmark set by Parliament. As the wind had now increased to a gale and the ice continued to hem the vessels in, Parry decided to spend his time exploring the bay to the north, until more favorable weather should enable him to continue his voyage. On entering this harbor, he found it to be a suitable roadstead, free from ice and sheltered from the prevailing winds; and coming to anchor he named it Hecla and Griper Bay. The Bay of the Hecla and Griper [he says], was the first spot where we had dropped anchor since leaving the coast of Norfolk; a circumstance which was rendered the more striking to us at the moment, as it appeared to mark, in a very decided manner, the completion of one stage of our voyage. The ensigns and pendants were hoisted as soon as we had anchored, and it created in us no ordinary feelings of pleasure to see the British flag waving, for the first time, in these regions, which had hitherto been considered beyond the limits of the habitable part of the world.

But the explorers were destined to push on a trifle farther before the end of the season. On the sixth the ice was seen breaking up to the westward and, a favorable breeze having sprung up, the anchors were broken loose and the ships headed in that direction. Parry's expectations of making further progress toward the end of the season were based on Ì99Ì

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previous experiences which showed him that the sea was likely to be free from ice in September; in truth, he felt that his success in finding the passage hinged largely on what he could accomplish that year. Thus when he found the ice closing on him ahead he patiently bided his time, making fast to a floe, ready to sail as soon as a favorable opening appeared. For several days conditions continued inauspicious. Strong winds and bad weather kept the vessels anchored in this vicinity for several days, but Parry was at last able to break loose from the ice and sail for a short run to the westward. Cape Providence and Cape Hay, promontories on the coast of Melville Island, were soon astern, then the wind freshened to a gale driving the vessels along under close-reefed topsails. Yet this promising lead did not last long. When darkness fell the commander considered it inadvisable to remain out in the open, so the ships were dropped back to where they might be securely anchored for the night. The thermometer was now falling to far below freezing point, with the result that young ice formed rapidly over the water when the wind dropped to a gentle breeze, evidence that the season was too far advanced to permit of any appreciable progress to the west. Furthermore, a westerly current was bringing the main pack to the shore, thus cutting off further movement in that direction. Parry therefore determined to return to Hecla and Griper Bay, where he felt certain of finding suitable winter quarters. The ships were cast off from their moorings, the sails were set, and after a brief run they arrived at the bay. His decision was not premature, for on entering the roadstead he found it badly clogged with ice; in fact, Fife Harbour, a small indentation he had previously noticed as a promising refuge in case of need, was now blocked to such an extent that he was obliged to make his way to an inlet west of it, which he named Winter Harbour, for here he was destined to spend the next ten months. The work of bringing the [[IOOJ

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vessels into this harbor was a heartbreaking task. The surface of the water was covered with a heavy coating of ice, through which a channel had to be cut to make a passage for the ships in getting them up to the shore; then by warping and towing, the crews finally brought them to an anchorage, where they would be safe during the rapidly approaching winter. The ships having been securely anchored, preparations were made to lay them up and to provide for the comfort of the persons on board during the period of darkness and intense cold. The sails and running gear were stripped from the spars and carried ashore, where they were stowed on the ice, since their frozen condition prevented their being thoroughly dried, and exposure to the freezing air would prevent their rotting. Topmasts and topgallant masts were lowered with their yards, and lashed amidships so as to form a ridgepole for the housing with which the deck was to be covered. This housing was made to planks running from the yards to the bulwarks, the whole structure being covered by a heavy cloth, forming a roof running the entire length of the ship. Unfortunately the scheme was not altogether satisfactory, as it was impossible to make the roof absolutely watertight and to keep the snow and wind from filtering through the crevices. The problem of maintaining the living quarters fairly dry was a difficult one, for when the thermometer fell below zero the steam from the copper boilers in the galley, the breath of the men, and other vapors condensing along the beams kept the interiors of the vessels constantly damp. To counteract this defect, which proved to be a serious detriment to health, a heating system was improvised that did much to rectify the trouble. A square box was attached to the range, and thus when a fire was lighted warm air could be carried to the quarters of the crew by means of three pipes running to them from the box. [[IOIU

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The health of the company had been good, thanks to the excellent precautions taken in the way of food; and now that the period of cold was coming on this important matter was given especial attention. The bread allowance was reduced, and preserved meat with concentrated soup was served in place of salt beef. Every day a portion of lime juice, sweetened with sugar, was drunk by each man in the presence of an officer detailed for this duty, in order to make sure that every one did his part to ward off an outbreak of scurvy. T h e ship's doctor carefully inspected the gums of the men once a week to detect the first symptoms of this dreaded disease. Great attention was paid to cleanliness, the men being mustered out for inspection twice daily. Considerable difficulty was experienced in finding a proper method for drying clothes after washing and for airing blankets, for when blankets were aired outside the ship in cold weather, or clothing hung out to dry, they generated a vapor when brought back into the warm living quarters, and became too damp for use. It was therefore necessary to do all drying and airing in the heated portions of the ship, a process which had its obvious disadvantages. Yet, despite the care taken to prevent scurvy, a few cases broke out, and the following instance will show the preventive measures taken against the disease, and the manner in which the crew cooperated with the officers in checking it. It was the custom in the Royal N a v y for the cooks to preserve for their personal use the grease obtained by boiling salt meat. As the eating of this ingredient was very likely to produce scurvy, Lieutenant Parry ordered the cook of his vessel to put it aside and to allow no one to use it. During the winter the cook became lax in his observation of this rule, occasionally handing out small supplies to be used in the lamps. A seaman, however, took advantage of this to eat the grease with his bread, despite the warnings of his comrades, with the result that he soon fell ill. When the man was cured, he ttioaj

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was accused of his misdemeanor before the entire crew, and sentenced to wear on his back a placard that made him an object of derision to his shipmates. Unfortunately Parry does not tell us what was on the placard. In circumstances such as these no wiser scheme can be devised for the promotion of good health than one which keeps up the tone and morale of the party, and prevents them from falling into apathy and indifference. To meet the situation, Lieutenant Parry maintained a routine similar to the one used when at sea. Officers and quartermasters were divided into four watches, though the crew were permitted to sleep throughout the night. At a quarter before six in the morning all hands were roused from sleep, and set to work scrubbing the decks for about two hours. Breakfast was served at eight, then at a quarter past nine all were summoned to the quarterdeck, where a rigid inspection took place. The commander and his lieutenant then made a careful examination of the deck used as living quarters by the men, and personally superintended the removal of all ice that might have accumulated on the walls of the ship during the night, for it was impossible to keep the temperature between decks up to the proper point, owing to the necessity of economizing fuel. This duty done, the officers returned to the upper deck and gave orders that the men might amuse themselves, either aboard or ashore, until noon, when the crew would be piped to dinner. In the afternoon the men spent their time performing minor tasks such as making gaskets and knotting yarns; then at six o'clock another inspection was held, after which all sat down to supper. The day finished when taps were sounded at nine o'clock. The winter which the expedition was to spend on Melville Island was long and tedious, no longer and no worse, probably, than other Arctic winters, but a source of trial to men unaccustomed to such a life. The health of the members on Œ103I

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the whole was good, with the exception of a few cases of ordinary diseases and a touch or two of scurvy, to which must be added the usual quota of frostbites, unavoidable in these latitudes. Only one man in the entire party succumbed. The thermometer from the seventeenth of December till the sixth of March was never above zero, reaching its lowest mark of 55 o below on the fifteenth of February. At these low temperatures the men were constantly obliged to be on the alert, when walking abroad, for any symptoms of freezing. At the maximum low of 55 o , Parry remarked that a man properly clothed could remain in the open without discomfort so long as the air was calm, but a light breeze produced a smarting sensation on the face accompanied by a severe pain in the middle of the forehead. Exposure to intense cold was also found to have a numbing effect on the senses, and men in this state acted in much the same manner as persons stupefied by alcohol. On one occasion, to give an example of the dangers of extreme temperatures, a little hut erected on the shore to house the meteorological instruments caught fire. A member of the crew in carrying the dipping needle out from the flames lost his gloves and exposed his hands to the cold for half an hour, with the result that several fingers had to be amputated. T o while away the tedium of the winter months, the officers amused themselves by editing a weekly magazine, and giving theatrical performances. The North Georgia Gazette and Winter Chronicle, as the paper was called, was published under the editorship of Captain Sabine, whose duty it was to delete from its pages anything that might give offense to any member of the party. Twenty-one numbers of the magazine appeared. These were afterward collected and printed for the amusement of those who had participated in the voyage, and for the edification of the public. The paper (Γιο4]]

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consisted chiefly of poems written by the literary members of the officers' mess, letters and articles, most of which were compiled in the ponderous vein of humor popular in those days, and advertisements of an amusing character. But the general tone of the contributions shows that the officers of this expedition were well-educated English gentlemen. The number appearing in the first week of the New Year contains an excellent letter written for the purpose of inspiring the members of the crews with the proper spirit for the successful conclusion of the undertaking. The writer encourages his friends by recounting to them the numerous blessings which have been their lot thus far: the excellent equipment, the abundant supplies, the preservation from serious harm, the good wishes which had speeded them on their way, and above all their success "in breaking the spell which made the sea of Baffin a bay." By whatever distance we may be separated from our country and our friends [concludes the writer], let us remember that we are ever mutually present with God. His all-seeing eye beholds us at one glance, his arm is ever stretched out to protect us—the mercy and beneficence of the Almighty are equally extended to us, whether we traverse the frozen regions of the north, or bask in the sunshine of our native plains.

The theater was the one unfailing form of popular entertainment during the winter. Huddled in between decks, the players in their cold, damp dressing-rooms donned the proper costumes for their parts. Several gentlemen, notably officers Beverley, Beechey, Ross and Hooper, whose faces and figures were readily adaptable to female rôles, rigged themselves out in the long skirts and stays of the period. Those with musical talent enlivened the performance with appropriate songs, some of which were written for the occasion. We give below the announcement of a piece as it appeared in the North Georgia Gazette: [[105]]

®lfMitr* Slogai, Sforítj (forgia T h e P u b l i c a r e r e s p e c t f u l l y i n f o r m e d , t h a t t h e T h e a t r e will o p e n , f o r t h e first t i m e , O N F R I D A Y N E X T , N O V E M B E R 5, 1 8 1 9 , W h e n will b e p e r f o r m e d G a r r i c k ' s c e l e b r a t e d F a r c e o f

MISS IN HER TEENS; OR

THE MEDLEY

of LOVERS.

MEN.

Sir S i m o n L o v e i t , Captain Flash, Jasper,

Mr. NIAS.

Captain Loveit,

Mr. BUSHNAN.

M r . GRIFFITHS.

Fribble, M r . PARRY.

Mr. HOPPNER.

Puff,

Mr. WAKEHAM.

WOMEN.

Miss Biddy,

Mr. BEECHEY. Tag,

Aunt, Mr. BEVERLEY. M r . HOOPER.

S O N G S , b y M e s s s r s . S K E N E , P A L M E R , a n d B U S H N A N , will b e i n t r o d u c e d

between the Acts. Previous to the Performance,

AN APPROPRIATE ADDRESS, Written expressly for the Occasion, Will be spoken b y M r . W A K E H A M . D o o r s will o p e n a t H a l f - p a s t S i x , a n d t h e C u r t a i n will rise p r e c i s e l y a t Seven. TO

CORRESPONDENTS.

ALBERT'S Enigma in our next. AMICUS'S "Prologue to Miss in her Teem, to be spoken after the opening Address," has been received. The Editor takes the liberty of suggesting, that the Manager of the Theatre is the person to whom it should have been sent. It is not yet too late to be so sent; and when spoken, it would appear in due course in our Theatrical Report. We are requested to state, that a humorous Epilogue to Miss in her Teens would add considerably to the amusements of Friday evening. NAUTICUS'S communication, entitled " A Problem," has been received. We

take this opportunity to remark, that we consider that it falls within the plan of our Paper, to admit questions which may exercise the ingenuity of our Headers, and furnish occupation in their solution; but it is necessary, in order to render such Questions worthy the occasion, that they should possess a certain degree of originality, and require more than a very ordinary knowledge to resolve them. If our friend Nauticus will refer to any of the Elementary Treatises on Arithmetic or Algebra, he will find under the Rules of Position, or of Simple Equations, many very similar examples to his, proposed for the students's instruction, and the mode of their resolution explained.

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Miss in her Teens seems to have been a popular piece, for a second performance was given several weeks later, to which was added a musical number called "The North-West Passage, or, The Voyage Finished." With such forms of amusement did the members of the expedition while away the dragging hours of the Arctic winter, until the rising thermometer warned them that the opportunity for pursuing their voyage was at hand. When the long night drew to a close, and the sun began to cast his rays over the ice, Parry caused the stern windows of the Hecla to be uncovered in order to let in light and save his supply of candles. The result was that the interior of the vessel became extremely cold, in fact colder than the open air, so that the officers were obliged to keep their coats on in the cabin, although they could remove them with perfect comfort when going out of doors. By the middle of April the continued cold became a source of anxiety. The protracted length of the winter began to make us more than usually impatient [writes Parry], and to create in us reasonable apprehensions lest our escape from Winter Harbour should unavoidably be postponed to a period too late for the accomplishment of those sanguine hopes, with which the last year's success had induced us to flatter ourselves. The extraordinary degree of cold which continued day after day was such as we had certainly not anticipated; and when, at this period, with the sun above the horizon for seventeen hours out of the four and twenty, the thermometer was still occasionally falling as low as — 31 0 , which it did at four this morning, it must be confessed that our future prospects of advancement began to wear a very unpromising aspect.

But even in the Arctic, cold will not last forever. During the month of May the temperature at last rose high enough to permit the crews to free their ships from the ice which had encased them during the winter; and all hands were set to work caulking the seams, sending up the topmasts and yards, bending the sails, and doing the thousand and one things necessary to resume exploration the following summer. Œ107I

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Toward the end of May the weather had become sufficiently warm to permit a resumption of the business of exploration, but unfortunately the sea still presented an unbroken surface of heavy ice. Moreover, there had been but slight evidences of thawing, and when the leaders stopped to consider that the sun would begin his southward journey on the twenty-first of June, there seemed to be little hope of a successful outcome of the undertaking. Meanwhile Parry decided to improve his time by leading an expedition overland, to explore Melville Island for the purpose of collecting information on its geography and natural history. The first of June was the day set for the start. Supplies in the shape of provisions and tents were collected and placed on a cart specially constructed for the purpose. It was Parry's intention to be away not more than three weeks, by which time conditions would be such as to permit the vessels to put to sea. He took with him Captain Sabine, Fisher, Nias and Reid, three seamen and two marines. A detachment of four men accompanied them during the first day's march to assist with the baggage. The start was made on the day set at five o'clock in the evening, the party traveling during the night and resting by day when the sun was highest in the heavens. Ascending a neighboring plateau, they saw extending before them an immense plain entirely covered with snow and terminating in a lofty range to the northwestward, called the Blue Hills. So level was the plain and so well was it covered with its icy mantle, that it gave the appearance of being a frozen body of water, but as the party proceeded in a northerly direction they presently saw in the distance brown spots of earth that quickly dispelled the illusion. Moving along over the ice, they came to a rich soil, consisting of decayed moss and vegetable matter mixed with sand, then again they came to snow and ice. Dragging their heavy cart after them, they crossed sevŒ108J

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eral ravines; and the men, unwilling to forget that they were sailors, hoisted a blanket on it as a sail, a device which proved to be of material assistance before the strong southerly breeze. When a halt was called, the cart was tilted up to windward of the tents as a protection against the blast, enabling the men thus sheltered under its lee to enjoy a good sleep, comfortably ensconsed in their sleeping bags. Great care was taken not to allow the feet to freeze, for the stockings used during the day's march were invariably soaked through by the snow, and liable to congeal when their wearer was asleep. They were therefore removed for the night, but donned again when the march was resumed, whether they were wet or not. The journey appears to have been an uneventful one, while the scenery unrolling itself before the explorers does not seem to have had any features of beauty or interest. After traveling for about six days, they came to a northern sea, beyond which appeared a high land extending from northwest to southwest. Parry declared this land to be an island, and named it after Captain Sabine, but later exploration has shown that it is a huge peninsula extending from the eastern end of Melville Island, the body of water between it and the place where Parry stood being known today as Hecla and Griper Bay. The name Hecla and Griper Bay, found on the map accompanying Parry's journal, is there applied to the bay around Winter Harbour, as Parry had named it; but in course of time this name was dropped as a designation for W7inter Harbour, and applied to the huge gulf in the northern part of Melville Island which Parry had now discovered. A careful examination of the shore, as far as circumstances permitted, convinced Parry that he had indeed struck the ocean, and that there was no need of venturing farther in this direction. Ascending a high bluff, which he named Nias Point, the commander discerned as far as his HI 0 9 ] ]

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eye could see high masses of ice piled up in irregular formations. Observations made at this point, Parry's farthest north, showed the latitude to be 75 o 3 4 ' 47". In order to make assurance doubly sure, Parry ordered a hole to be bored in the ice over the bay so that he could satisfy himself that the water beneath him was indeed salt, and the b a y , therefore, an arm of the sea, not a fresh-water lake. A monument was erected at this northern-most point, under which was placed a cylinder containing an account of the expedition. H a v i n g now reached a sea to the north of the island, Parry turned his steps southward to the Blue Hills which were still visible in the distance. T h e party proceeded slowly, as the ground became uneven when they left the snowy plains and entered the hills. A little game in the shape of ptarmigan and ducks occasionally came their way and enabled them to v a r y their monotonous diet with a little fresh meat. Again they met the ravines they had encountered on the outward j o u r n e y , but this time they suffered the misfortune of breaking the cart while attempting to negotiate one of them, and were obliged to abandon it, transferring the supplies it contained to their shoulders. On the eleventh they arrived at a cove, an inlet to a large gulf, declared by Parry to be one of the most habitable spots in the Arctic. It was abundantly supplied with vegetation, and formed a shelter for game. From the shores of the cove one could see the gulf extending eastward as well as westward; and P a r r y , wishing to save time, decided to cross the obstruction rather than a t t e m p t a lengthy journey around it. Striking out over the icy covering of the gulf, he came to Hooper Island, where he dug through the ice, as he had done at Hecla and Griper B a y , to make sure that the body of water before him was indeed the sea. From a point on the island five hundred feet or more above sea level, he obtained an excellent view of this gulf, which he named after his "much-esteemed friend duo]]

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and brother-officer," Lieutenant Liddon. T o the west he perceived the headlands that marked the entrance to the gulf, and called them after Lieutenants Beechey andHoppner. The north shore, he saw, was the terminal point of the Blue Hills, and therefore high and precipitous as far as Bushnan Cove, beyond which it merged into low-lying land. From Hooper's Island the party proceeded southward to the opposite shore, plowing their way through the soft ice, often up to their knees. On reaching land, they turned and marched southwest along a narrow ridge for a short distance to a spot where they pitched their camp. N o t far from this place they discovered the ruins of six Eskimo huts, similar to those found the previous year on Byam Martin Island. These rude habitations were probably erected only for summer use for, while game was plentiful in this neighborhood during the season, it was not sufficient to allow the Eskimos to lay in a supply for the winter. A t this point Parry and Sabine felt they had carried their explorations as far as time permitted them, so, erecting a monument of stones similar to the ones built on the shore of Hecla and Griper B a y , they buried beneath it a cylinder containing an account of their visit, and started back for Winter Harbour, arriving there early in the evening of the fifteenth, just two weeks after they had set out on their overland journey. In July the thermometer rose frequently to over 50o above zero, and the ice in the harbor began to dissolve rapidly. Presently rain fell, and this, together with the streams running down from the shore, played havoc with the ice pack. Mr. Reid, who had been sent on an excursion to the south, returned at this time with the report that he had been unable to find any perceptible motion of the ice along the shore. This, it is true, was not encouraging, as all were anxious to be on the open sea again, but the processes of nature could not be hastened, so there was nothing to do but wait. N>»I

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By the middle of the month the officers looked for the possibility of an immediate departure, keeping a lookout constantly at the masthead to report any favorable change in the condition of the ice. Life on the island was, meanwhile, pleasant enough; the hunting was excellent, the climate, in comparison with the winter through which they had passed, warm and mild, and signs of scurvy were disappearing, thanks to the fresh meat now readily obtainable. Yet Parry, as was natural under the circumstances, viewed the situation with impatience. "Gratifying as this fact could be to me," he says in referring to the health of the crew, "it was impossible to contemplate without pain the probability, now too evident, that the shortness of the approaching season of operations would not admit of that degree of success in the prosecution of the main object of our enterprise, which might otherwise have been reasonably anticipated in setting out from our present advanced station with two ships in such perfect condition, and with crews so zealous in the cause in which we were engaged." At last the ice pack receded. On the first day of August Lieutenant Parry was able to see clear water in the offing. So recalling hastily those on shore, he weighed anchor and stood out to sea. By a strange coincidence the date of leaving Winter Harbour was the anniversary of the day on which the explorers had entered Lancaster Sound and, taking this as a lucky omen, they concluded that if they were blessed with the same good fortune as that of the previous year, the expedition would be brought to a successful end. With this hope in mind, the vessels were headed westward, where a channel was visible off the shore. Unfortunately, a head wind and an easterly current worked against them and, to make matters worse, the Griper behaved badly, missing stays several times. Thus she was soon far astern of the flagship. So bad was the Griper s behavior that Parry requested her Im]

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commander to make a report of the trouble, with the suggestion that if it could not be remedied it would be best to transfer her crew to the Hecla and continue the voyage without her. This plan, however, was not carried out, and the two ships continued to sail together. When they reached Cape Providence, open water was seen off the westernmost point of Melville Island, now visible from the quarter-deck. An attempt to reach it proved disappointing, as the channel closed in presently, forcing the ships to seek shelter near the shore, where the Griper anchored some distance from the Hecla. Upon going ashore, Parry ascended a neighboring hill to see what lay beyond him to the west, and far out over the sea he discovered land to the southwest which he named Banks Land in honor of Sir Joseph Banks. It is known today as Banks Island. At this point Parry, having reached a place fifty miles west of Winter Harbour, determined to leave the coast of Melville Island to try his luck on a more southerly route. Evidently, for some reason he could not fathom, the ice did not break up along the northerly shore of McClureStrait, at least enough to permit him to pass through, and it would be a waste of precious time to wait in the vicinity any longer. As a rule there was more likelihood of finding open water along the shore than in mid-channel and, now that land had been discovered to the south, an opening might be found along that coast. Accordingly, on the sixteenth of the month he turned back from his farthest west (longitude 1 1 3 0 46' 43.5"), sailing eastward along the shore, ever on the watch for an opening to the south. The vessels had not gone far before they were again hemmed in by the ice, and forced to make fast to the land near Cape Providence, where they remained for several days. After staying here until the twentythird, Parry managed to work his ships a few miles more to Œi ' 3 1

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the eastward, after performing what he considered the most difficult navigation of his Arctic experience. The commander now began to consider what he could do in the short time remaining before the close of the season. The year before, navigation had ended on the seventh of September, and though he would have been willing to risk it for a week longer, the distance to Icy Cape was too great to permit his reaching this promontory in 1820, even under the most favorable circumstances, since during the present year he had been able to go only fifty miles beyond Winter Harbour. Taking stock of his provisions, he found that they would last, at the existing rate of consumption, only until November, 1 8 2 1 , when it would be necessary to reduce rations materially if they were to be made to last until the following April. It was therefore imperative to leave the Arctic before the end of the season of 1821. The commander put the situation before his brother officers, demanding their opinions. They replied, after due deliberation, that they considered it advisable to return to England during the present season in case they failed to find within a reasonable time a suitable opening to the south. This they believed would be better than spending another winter in their present vicinity. As this opinion coincided with that of the commander, the plan was immediately put into effect. B y good fortune open water was now seen to the eastward; anchors were weighed, sails set, and the vessels started on the return journey. Sailing conditions soon became better, and before a week had passed Parry had reached the ninetieth meridian at the eastern end of Barrow Strait, without having found any opening to the south. At this point in the voyage it was decided to abandon all thought of further exploration and to return to England, for it was quite evident that nothing more could be accomplished during the short season still remaining. The voyage home ([114]]

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need not detain us; it was merely sailing back over a wellknown route. Parry landed at Peterhead, in Scotland, the last of October, and hastened to London where he laid his report before the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty. Great was his surprise when he was informed by this body that he had been promoted to the rank of commander as soon as they received a letter which he had dispatched to them by a whaler he met in Davis Strait, apprising them of his discoveries. His native town of Bath bestowed on him the freedom of the city in a document inclosed in a box made from a timber of the Hecla, and also presented him with a piece of plate in token of his achievements. The Bath and West Society for the Encouragement of Arts voted him the Bedfordean gold medal. But Commander Parry's first thought, when he saw his ships safely anchored in the Thames, was one inspired by the genuinely religious trend which had marked his whole life. He wrote the Rev. Mr. Ellis, rector of St. Mary-le-Strand, requesting a service of thanksgiving, in a letter so characteristic of his modesty and manly piety that it is worth reproducing here. Myself, the officers, seamen, and marines, who have lately been employed in discovery in the Arctic regions, are desirous of offering up our public thanksgiving to Almighty God for the many, many mercies we have received at His hands. I trust you will excuse the liberty I have taken, in requesting you will inform me, whether you can, with propriety, and without any appearance of parade or ostentation on our part, which I am particularly anxious, on every account, to avoid, perform that office for us at your church on Sunday next. Should there be any objection to this, I trust you will believe that I have solicited this favour in perfect ignorance whether it is proper or not, and with a sincere desire to give glory where alone the glory is due. 3

Ever since his voyage under Ross, Parry had been inclined toward a belief in the existence of a passage with its outlet through Bering Strait, and this opinion was now confirmed by his discovery of the lead through Lancaster Sound, Œ»s]l

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and his finding of the great archipelago, intersected b y n u m erous channels that l a y beyond it. T h e k e y to the solution of the problem, he thought, would be found along the northern coast of A m e r i c a , for he conceded that there w a s something peculiar about the southwest end of Melville Island, extremely unfavorable to navigation. In this connection he writes in his journal: It is scarcely to be doubted that, on any meridian to the north of America, for instance, 1 1 4 0 west where we were stopped, the general climate would be found somewhat better, and the navigable season longer, in the latitude of 69o than in that of 75 o , near which we wintered. For this reason, it would perhaps be desirable, that ships endeavoring to reach the Pacific by this route, should keep, if possible, on the coast of America, and the lower in latitude that coast may be found, the more favorable will it prove for this purpose. Our experience, I think has clearly shown that the navigation of the Polar Seas can never be performed with any degree of certainty, without a continuity of land. . . . In this respect, therefore, as well as in the improvement to be expected in the climate, there would be a manifest advantage in making the attempt on the coast of America, where we are sure that the land will not fail u s . . . . The question which naturally arises, in the next place, relates to the most likely means of getting to the coast of America, so as to sail along its shores. It would, in this respect, be desirable to find an outlet from the Atlantic into the Polar Sea, as nearly as possible in the parallel of latitude in which the northern coast is supposed to lie; as, however, we do not know of any such outlet from Baffin's Bay, about the parallels of 69o to 70 o , the attempt is, perhaps, to be with better chance of success in a still lower latitude, especially as there is a considerable portion of coast that may reasonably be supposed to offer the desired communication, which yet remains unexplored. Cumberland Strait, the passage called Sir Thomas Rowe's Welcome, lying between Southampton Island [in Hudson Bay] and the coast of America, and Repulse B a y , appear to be the points most worthy of attention. A n d to a large extent P a r r y w a s right, for it w a s along the northern coast of A m e r i c a that A m u n d s e n eventually sailed through the passage; but it w a s not b y w a y of Hudson B a y and he reached it; it w a s through L a n c a s t e r Sound. Œ"6]]

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As may be readily surmised, John Barrow was nearly beside himself with joy at the successful outcome of the expedition. Scarcely had he perused Parry's journal when the secretary grasped his pen to write in fulsome praise of the commander and his work.4 Barrow felt himself thoroughly vindicated by the discoveries of Parry, and he seized the occasion to launch more than one covert thrust at the unfortunate Ross, as though he had not attacked him sufficiently in the past. But then magnanimity was not a characteristic of Secretary Barrow. He begins his remarks in the following note of triumph: "If 'the North-West Passage unto Cathay and lands Orientall,' which for two centuries and a half has scarcely ceased to be an object of anxious research, has not yet been completed, at least we may now say 'the ice is broken,' the door opened, the threshold passed, and the first stage of the journey accomplished." He then goes on to remind the reader how his conviction in the existence of the passage had not been shaken by what Ross had done, but rather strengthened by what he had failed to do. He also modestly reminds those interested in the project that not a little credit is due to himself for having kept alive the question of the passage until a competent officer had been found to justify his theories. In short, he appears to regard the undertaking as a sort of joint enterprise, and does not want the public to forget the prominent part he played in it.

In?!

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S

CARCELY had Commander Parry returned from his successful voyage when the Admiralty announced their intention of launching another expedition under the leadership of the same able officer. In selecting the route to be followed, the authorities were naturally guided by Parry's advice, which was to seek the passage along the northern coast of America rather than attempt to break through the ice of McClure Strait. When sailing down Prince Regent Inlet to the place where he had been stopped, Parry had been led to believe that the lands flanking the channel were composed of islands intercepted by straits, giving access to Roe's Welcome on one hand, and to a passage along the American coast on the other. To reach the inlet would be a simple matter, if the expedition followed the route previously discovered through Lancaster Sound; but as this would mean sailing well to the north, and then turning southward, it was felt that valuable time could be saved by looking for an opening into the waters on the northern coast of America by way of Roe's Welcome and Repulse Bay, which might be reached through Hudson Strait. Sound as this was in theory, Prince Regent Inlet, whether reached by way of Lancaster Sound from the north, or the Fox Channel from the south, is in reality a blind alley, for its western shore stretches in an unbroken line from the American continent to Barrow Strait, save for the little Bellot Strait on the seventy-second parallel, which leads westward to the waters south of Peel Sound. Nevertheless, as this was not known at the time, the instructions given Parry for his guidance by the Admiralty Œ121]]

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under date of April 27,1821, directed him to proceed through Hudson Strait until he met with ice, then, having taken on board the provisions from the transport which was to accompany him, to make his way to Repulse Bay (through Roe's Welcome), or to any locality north of the Wager River, which he believed might be a portion of the American continent, and then turn northward, examining all inlets and openings to the west. If at the end of the season he should have found no promising lead, it was left to his judgment whether he should return to England or winter in some suitable place. Should he succeed in reaching the Pacific, he was to repair to Kamchatka and there deliver his report to the Russian governor. No time was lost in fitting out the expedition. Commander Parry was given his commission on the thirtieth of December. His second in command, who received his on the fourth of the following month, was Commander George F. Lyon, a man about twenty-six years of age, who had served in the navy since he was thirteen years old, and had just returned from a protracted sojourn in Tripoli, where he had been occupied in exploring unfrequented regions. As the Hecla had proved to be a satisfactory vessel she was again put in commission, but the Griper, whose indifferent sailing qualities had caused some anxiety on the previous expedition, was replaced by the Fury, a bomb ketch of 377 tons' burden, which Parry used as his flagship, the Hecla being relinquished to Commander Lyon. Parry had no difficulty in recruiting his crews; in fact he was overwhelmed with applications. When the Fury came into dock, seamen who had served under him before crowded about him begging to be taken on the second voyage. The officers' mess on either ship saw but few new faces; indeed it might almost be said that the commander had the same personnel as on his preli"!

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vious undertaking. There were in all 118 men in the expedition; 60 on the Fury and 58 on the Hecla. In fitting out the vessels many improvements were introduced, based on the experiences of the first voyage. The plan of having two vessels, one much smaller than the other, which had been adopted with the idea that the smaller one might precede the larger and take soundings, was abandoned, and the Fury was selected because she was of approximately the same tonnage as her consort; for, as Parry pointed out, soundings could always be taken by boats, while a small ship would be unable to receive the crew of the larger one in case of injury to the latter. But with two vessels of almost exactly the same size, as the Fury and the Hecla were, and the scheme of equalizing the fore and mainmasts, the spars and gear of all four of these masts would be interchangeable, and could be set up on either ship without alterations. To insure greater warmth during the winter months than the crews had enjoyed on the previous occasion, an elaborate system of insulation and heating was installed. A thick lining of cork was applied to the ships' sides and to the under part of the upper decks, while shutters of this material were placed about the windows and skylights. A device was now set up on the orlop deck between the sail locker and the main hatch, which consisted of a furnace with pipes passing through it, by which the cold air was heated and carried to the officers' quarters. The furnace itself and the galley served to warm the portions of the ship reserved for the crew. Hammocks were substituted for beds, as experience had demonstrated that ice frequently accumulated in the berths, giving rise to a condition that caused illness. The expedition was victualed for three years. Much space in storing the supplies could be saved, it was found, by taking kiln-dried flour instead of biscuit, as three hundred pounds of the former occupied no more room than one hundred of the lati c i

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ter. Spirits were supplied 35 percent above proof, and this strong liquor was later reduced by a hydrometer to the strength used in the navy. This scheme economized space at the rate of forty gallons for every hundred. A large variety of anti-scorbutics in the shape of concentrated vinegar, lemon juice and miscellaneous foods, was loaded on board and packed in such a manner as to resist better the hard usage by which some of these articles had been destroyed on the voyage of the year before. The large amount of supplies stowed away caused the ships to lie very low in the water, so it was decided to have part of their stores carried across the Atlantic by a transport ship, the Nautilus, which was to accompany them to Hudson Strait. Well equipped and well manned, the expedition was now ready to sail.1 As the day for sailing approached, a vast crowd collected at Deptford to see the vessels that were to start out in search of the Northwest Passage. The spectators, however, were not content with merely gazing upon the ships, but were anxious to tread their decks. Commander Parry, therefore, in order to satisfy the popular demand, decided to give a reception on board the Fury. The crew were accordingly set to work decorating the vessel with flags and green branches, the upper deck of the Fury being made over into a ballroom. The artillery band was secured to furnish the music, and the entertainment was prolonged until the moon rose.2 Ten days later the ships were ready to start, but as this day fell on a Friday the commander decided to bow to the vulgar superstition and postpone the date of sailing. On the 29th [April], at 10 A. M. [writes Parry], the wind bearing from the eastward, with every appearance of its continuing, the Fury was taken in tow by the Eclipse steamboat, which vessel had taken us down the river on a similar occasion. At two P. M., the Fury was moored to the buoy at Northfleet, and the Eclipse returned to Deptford for the other ships. The Hecla reached the moorings on the following day, and the

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Nautilus on the ist of May. The guns and ordnance stores were here received on board, after which the ships immediately proceeded to the Little Nore where they anchored on the 3rd. I received my final instructions from the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty on the 4th, and set out for Sheerness on the following day. On the 7th, the ships were visited by Rear-Admiral Sir John Gore, from whom we had, on this, as on the former occasion, received every attention and assistance, which the greatest personal kindness, and the most lively interest in our success, could suggest. On the same day, the ships' companies received their arrears over river-pay, and three months' wages in advance; after which they provided themselves with a large stock of warm clothing, according to a list previously given out. . . . On the 8th, at half-past three A. M., we weighed from the Little Nore, and, being favored with a fresh breeze from the southward and westward, passed through Hosely Bay at noon, when the weather becoming thick, I was induced to run out at the back of the sands, lest we should not be able to distinguish the lights clearly at night. T h u s they sailed for Hudson B a y . Nothing of any interest occurred on the outward journey. E v e n P a r r y ' s journal gives only a few entries covering the events of the eight weeks that elapsed between the departure from the T h a m e s and the arrival at the southern extremity of D a v i s Strait, near the sixty-second parallel. Here, on the first of J u l y , the Nautilus unloaded her cargo into the holds of the other two ships and, waving farewell, sailed back to England. P a r r y then proceeded on his course, cruising westward along the northern shores of Hudson Strait, now pressing forward under full sail, now beset by masses of ice, until, on the second of August, after a tedious passage, he reached the eightieth meridian where, he tells us, he paused to decide on which route to take. A n d here too he paused in his narrative to lay before the reader the reasons that led him to select the course he eventually took. Glancing at the map, we find that P a r r y was now at the southern extremity of F o x Channel. This channel has for its western shore Southampton Island, which, in turn, is sep[[125 Ì

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arated from the mainland b y the Roe's Welcome we have frequently mentioned. T h e Welcome and the channel are joined together north of Southampton Island b y the Frozen Strait discovered b y Captain Middleton in 1742. T h e northwestern extremity of the Welcome ends in a bay, called Repulse B a y . It was the belief of Commander Parry, and the A d m i r a l t y , that Middleton might have been mistaken in his supposition that Repulse B a y was landlocked, and that it might on the contrary be an open inlet, leading through to a passage along the northern coast of America. H a d this been so, the work of exploration would have been greatly simplified; but unfortunately the bay is indeed a bay, and the land to the north of it an isthmus, (discovered later by D r . R a e , and named after him), which connects the continent with a large peninsula (Melville Peninsula) extending northward almost to the seventieth parallel, where its shores are washed b y F u r y and[Hecla Strait. T h e commander, therefore, had a choice between two routes to reach Repulse B a y where his operations were to begin: one, by sailing southward around Southampton Island and up the Welcome; the other, b y sailing northward along the eastern coast of the island and then through Frozen Strait. In deciding on the proper course to take, P a r r y had to choose between the statement of Middleton that he had indeed seen Frozen Strait, and the assertions of his critic, A r t h u r D o b b s , that he was something of an impostor, and that no strait could exist there. In deciding to be guided b y Middleton, who after all had been on the spot while D o b b s had remained in England, Parry was also influenced b y the fact that the distance from the locality in which he was now cruising to Repluse B a y was much longer b y w a y of the W'elcome than b y the Fox Channel and Frozen Strait. " A f t e r the most anxious consideration of all this contradictory evidence," he says in referring to the Dobbs-Middleton controversy, " I came to the resolution of [[126]]

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attempting the direct passage of the Frozen Strait; though, I confess, not without some apprehension of the risk I was incurring, and of the serious loss of time which, in case of failure either from the non-existence of the strait or from insuperable obstacles which its name implies, would thus be inevitably occasioned to the expedition." Parry, accordingly, entered the Fox Channel, and after a fairly smooth run reached the eastern end of Frozen Strait on the fifth of August. An observation showed him the latitude of the place to be 65 o 28' 15", which put him, according to his calculations, two and one-quarter miles beyond Baffin's farthest north in this part of the Arctic. T o the north was a land which upon further investigation proved to be a small island, to which he gave the name of Baffin. Between this island and the lofty land of Southampton was an opening to the northwestward where no land appeared, and it seemed evident to Parry that there was the entrance to the strait he was seeking. Six days later, after cruising about the vicinity, a gale arose, breaking up the ice, so that the following day, when the blow had spent itself, the ships were able to enter the strait under a rising easterly breeze. This condition, Parry observes, is the same as that found off Melville Island; and he lays it down as a rule that the best time to proceed westward is when an easterly breeze springs up after a gale from the opposite quarter. Although Parry was not altogether certain that the opening before him was the Frozen Strait described by Middleton, since the latter's account is rather confused, he nevertheless determined to push through, as it was evidently a passage to Repulse B a y . But he was not long left in doubt. As the weather cleared the ships entered the open lead. When they came to within ten or twelve miles of the narrowest part of the strait and the lookout reported no land in sight ahead, Parry concluded I127I]

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that he had indeed entered Frozen Strait and would soon be in the Welcome. The passage through the strait, however, was not so easy as he expected. As he advanced he saw to the westward, not an opening like the Wager River which he expected to find, but a long, low-lying coast, extending around to meet the highlands of Southampton to the south. On anchoring for the night a party was sent ashore to reconnoiter; but they returned presently saying they could find no termination of the shore to the westward, nor any high land beyond it. " I t was now evident, therefore," writes Parry, " t h a t this low shore was the same as that described as 'low shingly beach, like Dungeness,' and along the western side of which he (Middleton) sailed up the Welcome, without suspecting its disjunction, in any part, from the high land of Southampton Island at the back, which, indeed, he could not have discovered without traveling several leagues inland from that side, until he had reached the shore of the bay we had lately entered." As a matter of fact Parry had not yet sailed into Frozen Strait, as he at first believed, but into the large Duke of York Bay, where he spent several days in exploring the shores for an opening that would lead him westward. Fortunately it was not long before he realized his mistake On the nineteenth he passed the Black Rocks at the entrance to the bay, and swung around northwestward, now heading directly into the strait. But his experiences in Duke of York Bay had made him doubt the wisdom of jumping at conclusions, especially as he still felt uncertain as to whether or not he was in the strait. No ice impeded his passage, but fog and snow made it difficult for him to get his bearings. Two days after passing Black Rocks the weather suddenly cleared, and he saw to his surprise that he had passed through the strait and was now in Repulse Bay. Thus did Parry vindicate by his discovery the claims advanced by Captain [[128]]

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Middleton of the existence of Frozen Strait, through which flowed a tide coming westward into the Welcome. The strait, it is true, as Parry admitted, had presented less difficulty in the way of ice obstructions than might have been expected in these latitudes, thus seeming to belie its name; but, as he explains, it might well have been covered with ice when Middleton saw it. Sailing up Repulse Bay which, like the strait, was clear of ice, Parry organized a landing party comprised of men from both ships, and landed on the shore of a small bight in the northwest corner, where alone appeared the possibility of a passage. This brief exploration, however, served only to show again the truth of Middleton's observations, namely, that no passage existed there. "Thus," concludes Parry, "was the question settled as to the continuity of land around Repulse Bay, and the doubts and conjectures, which had so long been entertained respecting it, set at rest for ever." Commander Parry was indeed to be congratulated on the speedy and thorough manner in which he had carried out the first part of his instructions. The careful reasoning he had employed in selecting Frozen Strait as the proper route to Repulse Bay was justified by the results, and he was able to conclude this, the first stage of his journey, in far shorter time than if had he chosen the longer, and what seemed the more certain, route through the Welcome. As on his first voyage, when he had gambled on a passage through Lancaster Sound, he had again shown himself to be the proper man to guide an expedition to the Arctic. He now turned his ships back to Fox Channel. To quote from his journal: Having now satisfactorily determined the non-existence of a passage westward through Repulse Bay, to which point I was particularly directed in m y instructions, for the reasons detailed in the commencement of the preceding chapter, I had confidently considered as part of the

(Γ1 2 9]]

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American Continent, it now remained for me, in compliance with my orders, to "keep along the line of this coast to the northward, always examining every land or inlet which might appear likely to afford a practicable passage to the westward." It was here, indeed, that our voyage, as regarded our main object, may be said to have commenced, and we could not but congratulate ourselves on having reached this point so early, and especially at having passed almost without impediment the strait to which, on nearly the same day seventy-nine years before, so forbidding a name had been applied.

On leaving Repulse Bay, Parry sent an expedition under Commander Lyon to examine the northern extremity of Frozen Strait. This strait runs in a northwesterly and southeasterly direction, its southern shore formed, as we have pointed out, by Southampton Island, while the northern one is made by the long, narrow Vansittart Island, an island separated from Melville Peninsula by the little Hurd Channel. It was toward this locality that Lyon now directed his steps, and he found himself presently on the island which blocks the western entrance to the channel, which he named Bushnan, after the assistant surveyor who accompanied him. Going around this island, he uncovered the narrow entrance to the channel proper, flanked by two headlands, the northern one of which he named Cape Montague. From Lyon's report the commander concluded that there was probably a short passage from Frozen Strait to some sea to the northeast of it, and determined to make an attempt to sail through the Hurd Channel. But as it was rather narrow, he dispatched Lyon and Bushnan to make a further reconnaissance before trusting his ships to its dangerous waters. Lyon returned presently reporting a small bay under the lee of Bushnan Island, and at once took Parry back with him to examine its possibilities as an anchorage. The bay was found to be filled with ice; but not far off was another small inlet to which the name of Duckett Cove was given, a place well suited for a harbor. Parry accordingly got his vessels I i 30]]

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under way. A strong breeze was blowing from the northwest which drove the Fury along under press of sail until she came to anchor in the cove, followed a few hours later by the Hecla. The following day (August 28) Parry went ashore with Mr. Ross, and from a commanding hill surveyed the land and sea to the eastward. He saw that the land in the distance consisted of islands through which a passage might well be found, an opinion greatly strengthened when Ross returned in the evening with a report of conditions as he had found them. Meanwhile, Lyon and Bushnan brought in an account of what they had discovered beyond Cape Montague. They had gone by boat through the Hurd Channel and, turning northward, had entered what promised to be an interesting lead, for they felt beneath them a long groundswell, the first they had experienced since leaving the Atlantic Ocean. This hope, however, proved short-lived, as the body of water they had entered was actually a gulf (named Gore Bay by Commander Lyon) that led them but a few miles in a northerly direction. Lyon's excursion, though it shed no light on the possibility of finding a passage in this locality, at least saved Parry the trouble of sailing his vessels into a blind alley. On the thirtieth of August the commander weighed anchor and drove his fleet through the narrow channel explored by his second in command. It was his intention to sail along the coast in a general northeasterly direction, keeping a sharp lookout for any promising indications of a passage through the land; but as he progressed through the channel he saw ahead of him a barrier of ice across his path, which forced him to bear to the southward to seek an opening through those islands which he had observed from the headland a few days before. Scarcely had the vessels rounded the southernmost island of this archipelago and started Œ131I

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northward when a thick fog settled down upon the sea, forcing them to tie up to the nearest ice floe. Then came the wind. Springing up from the north it rapidly increased to a gale, driving the ships back toward the south, past the southern tip of Vansittart Island, and even past Baffin Island, until they fetched up at the eastern entrance to Frozen Strait where they had entered it a month before. " T h u s , " writes Parry, "after a laborious investigation which occupied one month, we had, by a concurrence of unavoidable circumstances, returned to nearly the same spot as that on which we had been on the 6th of August." Parry must have been disappointed indeed to find himself back at the place where he had started, especially as the season was now on the wane, and winter quarters must presently be established. Y e t he did not despair of being able to accomplish something before the long night set in. He accordingly turned his ships northward, and sailing past Baffin Island was soon making his way up the east side of the archipelago referred to above (called by him Sturges Bourne Islands) until he uncovered the long, narrow Lyon Inlet, running into the land parallel to Gore Bay. Into this he sailed, hugging the eastern shore, and finally reached a small cove where he anchored, for it marked the limit of navigation for the vessels. His ships now secured from ice and storm, Parry determined to explore the inlet by boat, in order to see if the land was continuous, or if it offered an opening to the Polar Sea. This time Commander Lyon was left in charge of the fleet while Parry himself led a party, in which were Ross and Sherer, on the tour of exploration. T w o boats were selected in which were packed blankets, tents and tools, together with provisions for four days. T h e journey up Lyon Inlet proved to be merely another of those abortive excursions which it was necessary to undertake in order to fulfill that part of the official instructions Hi

3*1

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ordering the commander to examine every opening along the coast. The work was carried on in a most conscientious manner. Leaving the ships, the party first ascended the eastern arm of the bay (Hoppner Inlet) to a point where it was obvious that no farther progress could be made. They then returned and proceeded up the main branch of the gulf. This brought them very soon to what appeared to be an inclosed bay; but when Parry had climbed a near-by elevation to view the surrounding country, he saw to the northward an opening in the contour of the shore line through which the flood tide was rushing with a velocity of four miles an hour to a wide passage beyond. With this promising lead before him he decided to prolong his stay in these regions, and dispatched Sherer back to the ships for additional provisions. In the meantime the commander pushed on, entering the large gulf to the north and steering a northerly course across its waters, for he tells us his men "could not but entertain very sanguine hopes of here finding a continued passage to the westward." Thus they rowed on in eager anticipation of an opening into the Polar Sea. As evening fell they disembarked and set up their tents for the night, to be presently joined by Sherer with the extra supplies. The following morning the party resumed their journey. As they traveled along the shore in their boats, keeping a sharp lookout for an indication of a break in the coast line, they presently saw three men standing by the water watching them and occasionally waving their arms. Upon closer inspection they proved to be Eskimos from a neighboring village. The Englishmen landed at once, and being civilly received, accompanied the natives to their settlement, where they spent the morning in trading some of their spare articles for the few wares offered by their hosts. The explorers found little to interest them in this colony; the natives showed a thieving disposition and, unlike those I i 331

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Eskimos they were to meet later at Winter Island, could offer no information on the geographical features of the neighborhood. The journey was therefore resumed, and the travelers presently came to the end of the inlet, which was found to terminate in a bay of generous proportions. There was nothing for Parry to do now but to retrace his steps, which he did, this time stopping to examine the western shore line with more thoroughness than he had exercised when he thought himself about to uncover a passage. By the fourteenth of September the party had returned to the Fury and the Hecla. It was now high time to look for a suitable place to spend the fast-approaching winter. During Parry's absence Lieutenant Hoppner had been sent to ascertain whether the land seen in the distance off Cape Edwards, the eastern promontory at the entrance to Lyon Inlet, was an island or an extension of the mainland. It proved to be an island, to which the name of Winter Island was given, but as the water between it and the land was narrow and shallow, Parry saw that he must sail around it if he would go farther north. Weighing anchor, the ships headed down the inlet, only to be held back, after they had gone a little way, by adverse winds and ice. A violent gale compelled them to seek shelter in a cove on the western side, but when the storm abated they again set sail. They now left the inlet, and were about to circumnavigate Winter Island, when they found their headway blocked by young ice recently formed on the water, and were compelled to seek an anchorage inshore. The place selected was a small bay at the southernmost point of the island where excellent holding ground for the anchors could be found. The appearance of young, or freshly formed ice, says Parry, is the sign that navigation is about to close for the season, for this form of ice constitutes an almost impassable barrier for ships caught within its grasp. Œi34l

>1 io ^ 2 *£¡ a -ÇJ I*=I U r* ° S = -5° "O o '-> M &· c OO ü o T3 c tí I2L]

FRANKLIN'S

EXPEDITION

from England, by which they learned of Parry's return from his first voyage, and of the promotions awarded by the Admiralty to Franklin, Back and Hood. The commander learned from Back that stores awaited him at Moose-Deer Island, but that the goods intended for the Indians had, for some unknown reason, failed to arrive. They also learned that Wentzel and his party had suffered from hunger on their return trip from the seacoast, a fact which accounted for their failure to leave provisions at Fort Enterprise. On the eighth of December they took leave of Akaitcho, and three days later reached Fort Providence. After refreshing themselves here for a few days, the Englishmen proceeded to the establishment of the Hudson's Bay Company on Moose-Deer Island, where they were welcomed by Mr. McVicar, agent of the company, and his assistant, Mr. McAuley. Here Franklin also had the pleasure of again seeing his companion. Back, on his journey to Fort Providence, had suffered as severe hardships as those experienced by Franklin at Fort Enterprise, but he had reached the post in time to send a load of provisions back over the trail to rescue his fellow explorers. The weary travelers spent the winter at Moose-Deer Island recuperating from their terrible privations. On May a6, 1822, they quitted the post and started for York Factory, arriving there after an uneventful voyage on the fourteenth of July. "And there," concludes Franklin, "terminated our long, fatiguing, and disastrous travels in North America, having journeyed by water and by land (including our navigation of the Polar Sea), five thousand five hundred and fifty miles." Franklin and his party reached England in October, where they were welcomed with unbounded enthusiasm. The Admiralty expressed their appreciation of the commander's work by promoting him to the position of post captain, while the Royal Society, in recognition of his Œ" 3l

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services in the field of geography, elected him to a fellowship. Private recognition of his achievements was likewise enthusiastic; and men in the highest walks of life deemed it an honor to entertain him as a guest. Yet in the midst of all this adulation the gallant captain, not yet satisfied that he had done all he could to clear the mystery of the Northwest Passage, was quietly laying plans for another expedition (to be described in a later chapter) which was to explore the northern seacoast between the Coppermine River and Bering Strait. Such was the indomitable perseverance of the man; and it may well be said of his companions also that scarcely had they recovered from the hardships they had suffered when they began to cast about eagerly for an opportunity to start their work anew. Strange as it may seem, it is a common trait in human nature for men who have once become inbued with the spirit of adventure to forget their perils, once they have passed through them safely, and to feel again the same urge that first impelled them to explore the remote corners of the earth.

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VI PARRY'S THIRD

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PARRY'S THIRD

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VOYAGE

A P T A I N Parry returned from his second voyage in the autumn of 1823. B y that time the Admiralty had had ample time to ponder over the facts presented them by Captain Franklin in the report of his overland expedition; and the result of their cogitations led to the dispatch of Parry on his third and last voyage for the Northwest Passage. B y combining the discoveries of Parry and Franklin, the Lords Commissioners had reached the conclusion that there was a passage through to the Pacific Ocean, though they fully realized that the negotiation of such a passage would be a long, arduous task. Parry had discovered a vast body of open water running south from Lancaster Sound (known as Prince Regent Inlet), and had later sighted the southern extension of this gulf on his excursion along the shore of Fury and Hecla Strait. B y comparing this discovery with the knowledge of an extensive open sea, gleaned by Franklin, with special reference to his belief that the sea extended east of Point Turnagain, the Admiralty decided that the possibility of a connection between the two bodies of water justified another attempt to find the passage. In their official instructions they pointed out to Parry that the obstacles he found on his first voyage to Prince Regent Inlet had at first caused them to favor the passage through Fury and Hecla Strait, but their confidence in his judgment had eventually led them to accept his belief that the ice in the inlet would probably be broken up late in the season; hence they were ordering him to proceed there along the same course he had taken when he discovered it Œ217I

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on his first voyage, namely, through Lancaster Sound. On arriving there he was to use his own judgment as to his route, basing his decision on his former experiences and the discoveries of Franklin, a copy of whose journal was now furnished him. Should he succeed in reaching the American coast by way of Prince Regent Inlet, he was to make his way westward as rapidly as possible without stopping to examine the shore line, though he was to land occasionally on a prominent headland and erect a flagstaff, at the foot of which he should bury a bottle containing such information as might be useful to the land parties which the Admiralty was about to dispatch, and also cache a small supply of provisions, in order to prevent a recurrence of the frightful hardships endured by Franklin on his recent expedition. As the previous experiences of Parry had clearly demonstrated the impossibility of making a passage through to the Pacific in one season, the Admiralty desired to give him as long a time as possible. T h e y informed the explorer that if no word came from him they would, toward the end of 1826, order the commander of the South American station to send a ship to Kotzebue Sound in September or October of the following year, with an ample supply of provisions. The vessel would stay there until the close of the season, and would then leave the provisions buried in a conspicuous spot before returning southward. The Admiralty was careful to urge Parry not to winter in the Arctic, if he found he was unable to proceed beyond a place which he could reach the following year from England before the passage became navigable, for the Lords Commissioners were opposed to the taking of unnecessary risks. The vessels selected for the expedition were those veterans of the previous voyage, the Fury and the Hecla. Parry on this occasion transferred his flag back to the Heclay the vessel he had commanded in 1819, while the Fury was turned Œ218I

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over to Captain Hoppner, who had sailed under Parry as a lieutenant on his first two voyages. In addition to these two ships, a transport, the William Harris, was added to the fleet, to carry an extra supply of stores as far as Davis Strait in accordance with the scheme of the previous expedition. In glancing over the ships' rosters, we find many old friends. Parry had with him on the Hecla, Joseph Sherer, promoted to the post of lieutenant from that of midshipman, which he had held during the previous voyage. His other two lieutenants were new men, John Wynn and Henry Foster. Besides Sherer there were the following veterans: William H. Hooper, Francis Crozier, Charles Richards, William Smith, George Fiddis, John Allison and Charles Wise. Captain Hoppner had for his lieutenants Horatio Austin and that gallant explorer James Clarke Ross, who had already made three polar voyages and was destined to rank as one of the great Arctic explorers. The Hecla carried a company of sixty-two men; the Fury one of sixty. Captains Parry and Hoppner received their commissions on January 17, 1824; and work was immediately begun on the vessels to get them ready for the start in May. A large crowd gathered to see the little fleet sail. T o add to the gaiety of the occasion, the officers, mindful of the pleasant entertainment they had given on board just before the departure of the previous expedition, had determined to repeat the performance on a more elaborate scale, this time decking out the two ships, and securing the services of Mme. Pasta, a famous actress, to furnish the amusement. On the eighth of May the vessels left Deptford and proceeded down the Thames to Northfleet, where they received their powder and ordnance. A strong easterly gale kept them in port for several days, so that it was not until the sixteenth that they managed to get to the Nore. Here the fleet was visited by Viscount Melville and other distinguished members of the Ρ ι 9Ì

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Admiralty, who, after a careful examination of the equipment, expressed themselves pleased with the work. Before leaving, they informed the commander of a trifling alteration in the official instructions, namely, that the provision ship, which was to proceed to Kotzebue Sound, would be there in the summer of 1826 in order to assist Franklin's land expedition, which, it was hoped, would find its way there by that time. T h e vessel, they said, would be there again in 1827, in case Parry had not made the passage the year before. 1 T h e y then stepped ashore, after wishing the commander Godspeed. On the nineteenth the ships set sail, and by the twentysixth of June they were at Whalefish Islands on the western coast of Greenland where they came to anchor after an uneventful passage. Here the crews set to work relieving the transport of her stores. While they were thus occupied, Parry set out in a boat with Hoppner for the Danish settlement of Lievely on the island of Disko, where he was hospitably entertained by the colonists. Meanwhile the business of transferring the stores was going on apace, so that at the end of a week all was ready for the voyage. On returning from his excursion, Parry at once gave orders to sail; anchors were weighed, and the ships started forth on their journey. For the first few days progress was slow; the vessels were deeply laden, while an immense group of icebergs—Parry counted over a hundred—made sailing extremely difficult. Proceeding westward they at last came to the main ice pack in longitude 58o 30', very near the locality where Parry had encountered it on his first voyage. This was about twenty-three leagues west of Disko, the latitude being 71°. Conditions were deemed favorable for an attempt to break through the barrier, though Parry had originally intended to make his way farther north; a fair wind was blowing, and the ice was not too heavy. Y e t despite this [[220]]

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promising opening, the passage proved a v e r y difficult one. B y the first of A u g u s t , after two weeks of incessant labor in sawing, warping and heaving, the explorers found themselves only seventy miles farther west. Here a gale sprang up, and the ships were caught in a h e a v y floe, which made it impossible for them to proceed. P a r r y , therefore, determined to seek a more northerly route, where he hoped to find the ice less compact. T h e vessels accordingly proceeded slowly northward, examining closely every mile of ice that formed the barrier between them and Lancaster Sound, until, on the eighth of September, they came to the seventy-fourth parallel, at a spot about n o miles west-northwest of the locality where they had cleared the pack in 1819. According to P a r r y ' s calculation the breadth of the Middle Ice was fifty leagues greater than he had found it on his first v o y a g e . T h e barrier passed, all was plain sailing, and on the tenth they came in sight of the bold headland on the north side of the entrance to Lancaster Sound. T h e season was now well advanced for an expedition that had only j u s t entered the sound, and to m a k e the best of the remaining few weeks all sail was crowded on as the ships plowed their way westward. Stopping b u t a moment at Cape Warrender to make a few observations, they sped along to C a p e Y o r k which marks the eastern entrance to Prince Regent Inlet. Here they met with a field of y o u n g ice, that harbinger of winter, and attempted unsuccessfully to crash through it. I t was now time to decide whether the fleet should continue on its course or return to England. T h e latter alternative was, of course, extremely distasteful to P a r r y , who had not yet reached even Prince Regent Inlet. In endeavoring to find an interpretation of the official instructions that would j u s t i f y him in continuing the v o y a g e , he hit upon the idea that since the crossing of Baffin B a y had occupied an entire season, the actual business of exploration to the west,

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as directed by the Admiralty, had not as yet been attempted, and he would therefore be carrying out the spirit of his instructions should he push as far westward as possible before winter set in, a policy which would give him the entire following summer in which to open up new leads. For a while the ships beat about, backing and filling with the contrary winds, and even drifting back to the entrance of the sound, so that it became necessary to secure them to blocks of grounded ice, or to anchor them in a bay close by. On one occasion, as the crews were cutting away the ice to make a channel into a harbor, the floes closed in, holding the ships with such force that it was impossible to extricate them. While efforts to dislodge them were being made, a curious complication arose. The Hecla had been made fast to a floe, when the sudden parting of the hawsers compelled her to let down her anchor. This anchor held, and the ice, driven astern by the current, was cut through by the anchor chain until the floe parted completely, leaving the Hecla in open water. Yet even then progress was impossible. A strong easterly current set in, carrying the ships eastward faster than they could make headway against the westerly wind that had sprung up, so that the following day they found themselves off Navy Board Inlet, almost at the entrance of the Sound. Fortunately this state of affairs did not last long. A strong easterly gale arose presently, breaking the young ice that had been such an impediment to progress; and the vessels, now setting sail, began to reel off the knots on the journey up the sound. On the twenty-sixth of September the ships at last entered Prince Regent Inlet, and turned their bows to the south. By this time Parry had reached the conclusion that the season was too far advanced to permit any further progress that year, especially as the conditions of navigation thus far experienced had been anything but favorable. Casting about for a suitable place to spend the winter, he selected

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P o r t Bowen, a small, well-sheltered harbor on the eastern shore of the inlet, a few miles north of the seventy-third parallel. T h e vessels could, no doubt, have been pushed farther to the south before the close of navigation; b u t as the officers had no knowledge of any harbor farther up the inlet, they deemed it wiser to establish their winter quarters in a place already known to them than to take the risk of finding a suitable anchorage in an unknown locality, with the possibility of being unable to return, if they failed to find a port, and of spending the winter on an open shore. T h e progress made this season had been far from satisfactory; the immense ice barrier in Baffin B a y , and the head winds and currents of Lancaster Sound, had delayed the expedition far more than had been expected, with the result that the explorers, on dropping anchor in P o r t Bowen, found their achievements thus far less imposing than the discoveries of the two previous v o y a g e s during the first season of navigation. Nevertheless they consoled themselves with the reflection that since navigation in these regions had been good in 1819, it might be so again in 1825, and that if the weather favored them at all during the coming season, they were already on the ground to take advantage of it. On entering Port Bowen, Parry found the b a y covered with h u m m o c k y ice through which he was obliged to cut a canal, an extremely laborious task, but a necessary one if the ships were to be removed a safe distance from the sea margin of the ice and put up for the winter. On the first of October the work was completed, and the vessels were warped into winter quarters. T h e arrangements carried out on the vessels for the health and comfort of the men during the cold season were substantially the same as those described in the accounts of the previous voyages, although P a r r y goes to some length in his journal to explain the improvements made in the heating

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apparatus. In the matter of entertainment, we are told that the former amusements, such as theatricals, had lost their novelty, and something new had to be attempted. At the suggestion of Captain Hoppner, it was decided to hold a masquerade. This proposal met with the approbation of all, as it was the first time a performance of this sort had been held in the Arctic wastes, and it had all the attraction of a new toy. The members of the crews set themselves to work making up costumes for the various characters they had decided to impersonate, a labor which provided quite as much amusement as the masquerade itself. All were eager to know what part the captain would take, for they felt certain he would present something worth seeing; and when the day for the entertainment arrived they crowded the gangway to see him go over the side. But they were doomed to disappointment for a while at least, for the captain left the Hecla wrapped up in a long coat, and started for the Fury, where the fun was to take place. On arriving there, he threw aside his coat and appeared as an old marine with a wooden leg, a facsimile of a well-known character who stood begging at the roadside near Chatham. Then striking up a tune on his fiddle he cried: "Give a copper to poor Joe, your honor, who's lost his timbers in defense of his King and country." In another part of the vessel was a bar called Fury, No. i, Arctic Street, where grog was supplied to thirsty customers in exchange for tickets with which they had been provided, a system which enabled every one to have a dram without the possibility of taking too much. A dance was held in which all joined, a motley crowd in every possible sort of costume. At ten in the evening the entertainment came to an end; the boatswain piped: "Away there, Hec/as," and within an hour life on the Fury had returned to the accustomed order of things. Œ"4l

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In addition to amusement, the officers took advantage of the enforced idleness of the winter months to set up schools for the benefit of the seamen. Mr. Hooper took charge of instruction on the Hecla, and Mr. Mogg, the clerk, on the Fury., both devoting a large part of their time to perfecting their pupils in such elementary subjects as reading and writing. Hooper, in addition to secular instruction, cultivated the religious tendencies of his men by offering prayer and reading from the Scriptures, a labor which received the warmest approval of his commander, who always took a great interest in developing the spiritual side of the men over whom he was placed. While spending the winter at Port Bowen, those in charge of the work devoted their efforts to making scientific observations of various kinds. An interesting phenomenon was observed in regard to the intensity of sound under conditions of extreme cold. Lieutenant Foster had sent a man to a spot 6,696 feet from the observatory on shore, where he was stationed, to make some astronomical observations, and had placed a man at a point halfway to relay his verbal instructions. He found, however, that he could easily converse with the man at the distant mark without the assistance of an intermediary. The thermometer at that time stood at —18 0 , and the barometer registered 30.14 inches. In connection with these scientific studies, three expeditions were dispatched to survey the neighboring territory as soon as the weather became warm enough to make traveling possible. The first expedition was undertaken by Captain Hoppner, who was ordered to proceed eastward to the sea to determine the insularity of the land on which Port Bowen was located. He was gone two weeks, and on his return reported having discovered a number of ravines running north and south, and apparently emptying into Jackson's Inlet, a gulf just north of Port Bowen. Little appears to have been accomplished by Œ"51

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this j o u r n e y ; the explorers were unable to reach a branch of the ocean to the eastward, though they brought back a report of the geological formations they had found during their peregrinations, which, they said, were much the same as those about P o r t Bowen. Lieutenant Ross, in command of another detachment, took his w a y northward until he came to a spot t w e n t y - t w o miles from the port, where he found the sea free from ice, from which circumstance Parry concluded that Barrow Strait was not completely frozen over during the winter. Lieutenant Sherer, in command of the third group, led his men southward along the shore to Fitzgerald B a y , making a survey of the coast as he proceeded; but he brought back no news, as P a r r y had already coasted this part of C o c k b u r n Peninsula (on which Port Bowen was located) on his first v o y a g e . T h e work of Ross and Sherer, however, was not a waste of effort, for it supplied P a r r y with suitable d a t a for revising his chart of the general locality, and getting a more accurate knowledge of the nature of the soil and the formation of the rocks. It was not until summer that the explorers were able to detach the vessels from the ice and resume their journey. On the twentieth of July the fleet at last put to sea, gliding under a gentle breeze toward the western shore of the inlet, " w h i c h , " says P a r r y , " i t was m y first wish to gain, on account of the evident advantage to be derived from coasting the southern part of that portion of land called in the chart ' N o r t h Somerset,' as far as it might lead to the westward; which, from our former knowledge, we had reason to suppose it would do as far at least as the longitude of 95 o , in the parallel of about 7 3 % ° · " A barrier of ice stopped the vessels after they had covered about eight miles, though in looking beyond it the crews were rejoiced b y the sight of open water. T h e course was then altered to southeast to see if a passage could be found in that direction; b u t in this they were again Œ«6I

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doomed to disappointment. P a r r y now determined to retrace his steps to the north in the hope of finding a passage through the barrier; and as he had observed on his previous journeythat the breadth of the barrier increased as he advanced into t h e inlet, he felt that it might be possible to reach the western shore in the vicinity of Prince Leopold Islands, at the western side of the entrance, and then work his w a y southward, hugging the coast. In two d a y s he attained his o b j e c t i v e ; but as conditions were found unfavorable, he was obliged to j o c k e y about until the ice had opened a channel. While engaged in this maneuver a gale sprang up, driving the ice before it with such force as to break up the hummocks along the shore, leaving a clear passage discernible as far as one could see from the masthead. A n d now, as they proceeded up the inlet in the passage thus formed for them, the crews obtained an impressive view of the western shore. T h e land here [says Parry], when closely viewed, assumes a very striking and magnificent character, the strata of limestone, which are numerous, and quite horizontally disposed, being much more regular than on the eastern shore of Prince Regent's Inlet, and retaining nearly their whole perpendicular height, of six or seven hundred feet, close to the sea. T h e southeastern promontory of the southernmost [Leopold] island is particularly picturesque and beautiful, the heaps of loose debris lying here and there up and down the sides of the cliff giving it the appearance of some huge and impregnable fortress, with immense buttresses of masonry supporting the walls.

A t the same time Parry observed the whole of Barrow Strait to be free from ice, and he concluded b y this that the Polar Sea was at all seasons unencumbered b y this form of obstruction. T h e vessels now proceeded up the inlet while the members of the e x p e d i t i o n , f o r g e t t i n g t h e h a r d s h i p s o f the previous winter, felt that their real journey was at last beginning. B y the twenty-fifth they had reached Elwin B a y in latitude 73 o 34', where P a r r y landed for a brief space to Œ«7l

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make a survey. Then, when a breeze rose, the party again embarked and continued on their way along the high perpendicular cliffs that line the western shore of the inlet to Batty Bay, in latitude 73 o 19'. A t this point the ice closed in toward the land, forcing the ships to make fast to a floe grounded on the shore. The following day the ice opened up again, and spreading their sails to a northerly breeze they sailed rapidly along. Unfortunately for rapid progress, the northerly wind, which bowled the vessels along so promisingly, had a tendency to close the ice, while the southerly breeze which opened the floes, was, of course, a contrary wind against which they were obliged to beat. On the morning of the twenty-eighth the wind again veered to the south, and casting off from their moorings the ships made eight or nine miles in that direction, when they were stopped by closely packed ice, despite the fact that the wind was in the proper direction for open water. There was nothing to do but to secure them along the shore in as safe a berth as possible, and to wait for a more propitious occasion. Landing on the coast to make an examination of the place, the explorers found the remains of Eskimo dwellings overgrown with moss, apparently uninhabited for many years. By this time the snow had entirely disappeared, and the soil was beginning to bring forth a miserable vegetation. Altogether, Parry felt confident, from the signs he saw, that the summer was an exceptionally promising one for the attainment of his object. We now come to the unfortunate incident that led to the untimely abandonment of the enterprise. It had been necessary to moor the Fury in an exposed position, and when, during the afternoon of the thirtieth, a strong gale sprang up from the north, the ice was driven against her, forcing her aground. Captain Hoppner did not consider this a serious misfortune, as the damages suffered were such as could readily be repaired, so he informed his superior officer that H"8]]

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she could be floated at high water if the ice did not interfere with the work by driving her further toward the shore. This maneuver was easily accomplished with the help of the Hecla s crew, who gathered about the vessel and hove her into deep water. The following day the wind shifted to the south, but later it veered again to the north, enabling both ships to resume their course. To the south lay open water, cut oflF from the fleet by a narrow stream of ice. Parry determined to sail through this obstruction—the ice was not heavily packed—and ordered the crews to make all haste to gain the open channel before the ice had a chance to close in. But in this he was doomed to disappointment, for scarcely had the ships gotten under way when the ice bore down upon them, fastening itself about their sides in such a manner as to render them unmanageable. As the ice was setting southward the ships were carried along on the proper course. Suddenly the Hecla, being close inshore, struck several times and finally grounded in sixteen feet of water, while the Fury was carried past her, barely missing the stranded vessel, and after going about two hundred yards ahead fetched up against a large floe lying on the shore. As soon as Parry had ascertained the condition of his flagship he received a note from Hoppner, informing him that the Fury had been buffeted so severely that she was leaking about four inches an hour, besides suffering severe damages. By dint of exertion, it was possible to get the Hecla afloat again at high water; but her consort remained fast, and continued to leak as much as ever. The ice was now bearing down on the flagship, dragging her southward, and separating the two ships so that they were obliged to rely on signals as a means of communication. The commander attempted to gain a small harbor, which he had previously noted when watching the sea from the masthead, in the hope of getting Hoppner to follow him when the H«9l

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ice broke up. Unfortunately, the harbor proved on investigation to be too shallow to admit vessels like the Fury and the Hecla. At this point, it was observed that the coast line altered considerably; the high bluffs had gradually disappeared, and the land had become low and shelving, with the result, as is usual in such cases, that shoal water was found at a considerable distance from the shore. Here also the coast was lined with huge masses of ice. Parry now betook himself on board the Fury, where he found the crew working valiantly at the pumps to keep out the water that was rapidly gaining on them. Taking Hoppner with him, he then rowed ashore to examine the coast for a sheltered place into which the ships could be driven. They discovered a spot shielded somewhat from the sea by large masses of ice; and, as it offered better protection than the places where the vessels were now beset, they rowed back to the ships and ordered the sails set for a run into this artificial harbor. But again they were doomed to disappointment. Scarcely were the sails unfurled when the ice closed in more firmly than ever, covering up all the open water in sight. While this was taking place, the Fury was having her troubles. One watch of the Hecla s crew was rushed over to relieve the men at the pumps, for a further examination showed her to be making about three feet of water an hour. The next morning the ice forced the vessel still farther toward the shore, but later in the day it was found possible to float her, though the ice prevented the crew from moving her into the berth selected by Parry and Hoppner. As investigation of the vessel's condition proceeded, it became evident that she must be heaved down—a delicate operation consisting of tilting the ship over on her side by means of cables fastened to the masts well above the deck, bringing the bottom almost entirely out of the water—and her leaks stopped if she were to be saved. Four pumps were now kept Œ»3OI

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continually at work, one-third of her crew being constantly employed for that purpose. To lighten the ship, and also to save her stores from possible injury, a large consignment of perishable provisions was taken from her hold and placed on board the Hecla, while the balance was landed on the beach. This done, it was found possible to move the ship, together with her consort, into a more sheltered place, not far from the spot where she had been aground. When the vessels had arrived in the location selected for them, the ice closed in, cutting off communication with the sea beyond. Once within the protected area, an ingenious method was applied to secure the permanence of the shelter. This shelter, or artificial harbor, was nothing more than a basin of water between the shore and some small hummocks of ice that lay aground in shallow water. To prevent these masses from drifting away, thus exposing the Fury to the violence of the sea during the heaving down, cables were passed about them and brought to large anchors imbedded in the beach; in this manner the floes were interposed as barriers, protecting the vessels from the attacks of the ice in the offing. To shelter the Fury still more during the operation of heaving down, the Hecla was placed between her and the ice floes. Tents were now erected on the shore for the reception of the Fury's stores, while she was stripped of all her supplies, including her boats and spars. Thus lightened she made considerably less water, two pumps being sufficient to take care of the leakage. When the lower deck had been cleared, it was discovered that water was seeping through it by two or three holes from a compartment below, known as the spirit room, but that thanks to the strength of the diagonal ceiling of this room it had not entered in sufficient quantity to sink the vessel. This much having been ascertained, it was now found necessary to lighten the ship further in order to locate the damage to the hull which had allowed the water to get into 0>3iJ

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her lower part. To do this, additional spars and the supply of coal were removed; and in order to make it possible to see the injuries below the water line, the loose ice was cleared from the shelter. This done, a careful examination was made, as thorough as circumstances permitted. The sternpost and forefoot were found to have been broken and forced up on one side, while the false keel had been torn away abreast of the fore chains. The rudder was now unshipped, as it was found to have been badly damaged by the ice, and brought up out of the water for repairs. Scarcely had this work been completed when a group of small bergs, driven by a northerly wind, came down on the cables with such force as to move the coals lying on the Fury's lowest deck, so that it seemed to those working in the hold that the bottom was falling out. It was plain from this calamity that the vessel was not sheltered sufficiently from the moving ice to allow her to be heaved down with any degree of security. Extra cables were therefore passed from the ice barriers to the shore in such a manner as to fend off any ice coming down from the north. Unfortunately this scheme of protecting the ships had certain definite drawbacks. The cables were continually slackening owing to the pressure of the ice thrown against them, and the bulk of the bergs, around which they were passed, was constantly diminishing thanks to the pounding of the waves from the outside. This necessitated, of course, tightening the hawsers, a maneuver that dragged the bergs nearer the shore, and thus narrowed the space in which the ships were confined. Yet it would have been impossible to heave down the Fury without first making certain that she was thoroughly protected from the onslaughts of the ice. At last, on the seventeenth of August, after many days of arduous toil, everything was ready for the undertaking, and at three o'clock the following morning the tackles were Α>3*ΐ]

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manned and the work of heaving down began. When the tackles which were used to haul the cables taut were drawn block to block, the leverage was found insufficient to lift the keel out of the water, so the vessel was eased up and worked in nearer the shore where there was less depth. Again the seamen manned the purchases, but this time a violent snowstorm arose, blowing with such force as to raise a tremendous sea, which in turn caused the vessel to strain on her gear in such a manner as to bend the masts. It was therefore necessary to ease the strain by allowing the Fury to resume her upright position. This done, the crews retired to rest in a state bordering on exhaustion. The officers and men [writes Parry], were now literally so harassed and fatigued as to be scarcely capable of further exertion without some rest; and on this and one or two other occasions, I noticed more than a single instance of stupor amounting to a certain degree of failure in intellect, rendering the individual so effected quite unable at first to comprehend the meaning of an order, though still as willing as ever to obey it. It was therefore perhaps a fortunate necessity which produced the intermission of labor which the strength of every individual seemed to require.

The gale now increased, and the heavy surf pounding on the bergs broke them down to such an extent as to destroy the barrier between the ships and the outer sea. The loss of the bergs also removed the shelter under which the Hecla could be moved into a position to protect the Fury when she was heaved down; and this misfortune caused Parry and Hoppner to conclude, after a careful examination of the situation, that neither vessel could now be prevented from being driven ashore should a storm hurl the ice upon them. To prevent a calamity that might result in the loss of both ships, Parry determined to warp the Hecla out into deeper water, taking for this purpose both crews with him, while he secured the Fury as best he could until he should return and remove her to a safer place for finishing the work. To pro-

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vide immediate relief for the disabled ship, the commander decided to tow her out into the open and "fodder" the leaks by running spare sails under the keel and binding them against the damaged parts of the ship, a well-known method of stopping leaks in an emergency. In this manner the ship could be kept afloat until permanent repairs could be made. By midnight the Hecla was ready to put to sea, and the crew, exhausted by their incessant toil, lay down to snatch a few hours' rest before resuming their labors. At seven o'clock the next morning a light wind arose from the northnortheast bringing with it a threat of oncoming ice. All hands were, therefore, immediately set to work placing the stores on board the Fury and thrumming 2 a sail for use in stopping the leaks. The ice was now in sight about five miles away, moving steadily toward the shore. As the day wore on, it came in nearer and nearer, until a large mass collided with one of the bergs held in place by the cables. Fortunately, no harm was done; and after a long day's work about fifty tons of coal and provisions were carried on board the Fury. The next day the vessels were hauled out a little distance from the shore, while preparations were made to cast off at a moment's notice. Early in the morning of the twenty-first a huge mass of ice bore down on the cables, threatening to break them; and nothing, Parry tells us, but his desire to stand by and save the Fury, prevented him from running out to sea until the weather quieted down. As a precautionary measure, extra cables were now warped around the bergs, and to every one's relief the barricade held. All hands were at once set to work getting the Fury's equipment ready for immediate sailing, for it was hoped the vessel would soon be under way; but when the crews were assembled at dinner in the afternoon, several masses of ice crashed into the Hecla and the bergs to which she was attached, an accident which, though it did no damage, forced Parry to the conŒ234]]

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elusion that he must immediately get out to sea, away from such a dangerous shore. Hoppner was at once dispatched to the Fury to hasten the work of loading. While he was thus engaged, several masses of ice closed in on the ship, driving her aground. Being apprised of this disaster by signal, Parry attempted to bring his ship inshore to the assistance of her consort, despite a strong southerly current which held him back. Meanwhile the ice had gathered around the doomed Fury, driving her on the beach; then, grounding beside her, firmly blocked off all means of escape by making an impenetrable barrier between her and the sea, and tearing away the bergs that had formed the shelter. Unable to leave the Hecla, for he had sent every man he could spare to work on the grounded vessel, Parry signaled Hoppner to bring his men back to the flagship. This Hoppner was able to do about seven o'clock in the evening, leaving only a small detachment to work the pumps. The situation of the Fury, as Hoppner explained to his superior when he came on board, was, indeed, a precarious one; the ship was almost completely surrounded to the seaward by masses of ice, especially in places where there was enough depth of water to float her; and even if she were afloat the only way of releasing her would be to cut away the huge accumulation under her stern, a tremendous undertaking. To add to the confusion, a strong current was sweeping the Hecla southward away from her stranded consort, which added the danger of separation to the already complicated problem. All hands were now ordered to leave the Fury and to report on board the Hecla. Three hours after they had come on board the flagship, half a mile of closely packed ice had formed between the two vessels, and by the following morning the width of the barrier had increased tenfold. While the Hecla was beating about against the southerly current, trying to keep abreast of the Fury, the crews en[[235]]

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joyed the first rest they had had in three weeks. They took advantage of this to wash and mend their clothes and to thrum a second sail for the Fury, if they ever had the good fortune to get her afloat. Yet the breadth of the ice between them and the shore kept increasing. Drifting now to the south, they descried the wide westerly sweep of the land that forms a huge bay, and Parry named the headland at which the sweep began, Fury Point. Scanning the horizon with his glass, he saw that the shore of the bay was a long, low beach, terminating at a headland which he called Cape Garry, where the land again resumed its southerly trend, the bay thus formed being in the shape of a semicircle cut into the coast line. The sea was now open, and it seemed as though conditions were at last propitious for making splendid headway toward the ultimate objective. T h e whole of the bay [says Parry], (which I named after m y much esteemed friend, Francis Cresswell, Esq.,) as well as the land to the southward, was free from ice for several miles, and to the southward and eastward scarcely any was to be seen, while a dark water-sky indicated a perfectly navigable sea in that direction; but between us and the Fury there was a compact body of ice eight or nine miles in breadth. H a d we now been at liberty to take advantage of the favourable prospect before us, I have little doubt we should without much difficulty have made considerable progress.

As they cruised back and forth along the beach where the Fury lay, with an ever-widening field of ice separating them from the grounded vessel, the crew watched her anxiously, waiting impatiently for an opportunity to work in closer to the shore. On the twenty-fifth of the month the ice barrier had increased to a breadth of twelve miles, and still the ice continued to pack in between the Hecla and the shore, until the Fury was at last lost from sight in the distance. Later in the day, when a small channel opened up, Parry, taking Hoppner with him, embarked in a boat, and by dint of exertion managed to reach the Fury in the evening.

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The vessel was found to be in a hopeless condition; she had nine feet of water in her bilge; her sternpost and keel were more seriously damaged than before; and she hung upon the ground at a point abreast of the gangway where the lowest depth of water was found. Turning to Captain Hoppner, Lieutenants Austin and Sherer, and the carpenter, who had accompanied him, Parry requested them to make a minute examination of the ship, and to give him an opinion on the possibility of putting her into seaworthy condition, for he had decided to abandon the vessel unless the independent opinion of others gave him reasonable assurances that she could be saved. The report of these officers, however, was far from favorable. After a thorough survey of the Fury, which occupied several hours, they voiced the unanimous opinion that it was impracticable to make the vessel seaworthy even if she could be hauled into deep water. Five days, said the carpenter, would be necessary to empty her hold of the water already in it, while the fresh water rushing in continually through the leaks would make it impossible to keep her afloat; and even if it were possible to get her into some sheltered harbor where she could be heaved down in perfect safety, it would take three weeks to repair the damage to her hull. There was nothing to do then but to abandon the Fury, and the signal was accordingly given for her crew to come ashore and collect their provisions. Some of the vessel's stores were left on board and some on shore where they were found by a later expedition under Captain John Ross, for all the extra space on the Hecla was needed for the accommodation of the Fury's crew. This done, Parry took stock of the situation. When the accident first occurred, he had hoped to repair the damage in time to take advantage of the season, and thus to continue the work of exploration; but when the ice began to destroy the protective barrier of icebergs, 1*3 71

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and to render it impossible to heave the Fury down, these hopes had dwindled until he was now obliged to abandon them completely. With a twelve-month's provision for both ships' companies, extending our resources only to the autumn of the following year [1826], it would have been folly [Parry says], to hope for final success, considering the small progress we had already made, the uncertain nature of this navigation, and the advanced period of the present season. I was, therefore, reduced to the only remaining conclusion, that it was my duty, under all the circumstances of the case, to return to England, in compliance with the plain tenor of m y instructions. A s soon as the boats were hoisted up, therefore, and the anchor stowed, the ship's head was put to the northeastward, with a light air off the land, in order to gain an offing before the ice should again set inshore.

There is no question of the wisdom of Parry's decision, as the court-martial—a mere formality in this case—decided when called upon to render a verdict on the loss of the Fury. The vessel was in no condition to face the seas, and there were no facilities for repairing the extensive damages to her hull; moreover, the season was now well advanced, and any attempt to penetrate farther south would have meant merely spending another winter in the Arctic, with little chance of reaching the Pacific the following year, or even that part of the American coast where the party might expect to find the relief ship coming from Bering Strait; and, furthermore, Parry's provisions were not enough for another winter. In addition to all this, though he did not know it at the time, the route Parry had selected through Prince Regent Inlet was little better than a blind alley, unless he could manage to get through little Bellot Strait westward into Franklin Strait, whence he could reach the waters that wash the northern coast of America. To be obliged to return home when he had proceeded no farther up Prince Regent Inlet than on his first voyage, was indeed a bitter blow for Parry. The summer of 1825 was the 1*3*1

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warmest he had experienced since his voyage under Ross; little rain, snow or fog had been experienced, while the vegetation was extremely abundant. The ice encountered was, in his opinion, the lightest and the most broken he had ever met with in these latitudes. It was, taken altogether, a most propitious season for navigating the Arctic seas. Yet the commander, on glancing back over the methods he had used in conducting his various voyages, felt he had little cause for self-reproach, and that the present misfortune was but the result of the risks which one was bound to take in Arctic navigation, particularly if the object of the expedition was the discovery of the passage. Parry had at all times, he tells us, regarded the mere safety of his vessels as of minor importance when compared to his work of exploration. Promising leads had always been followed until their end was in sight, and it became obvious that no further progress could be made through them; then, and then only, did he seek the safety of his ships in some convenient port. Moreover, so fortunate had he been thus far, that his men had begun to regard the vessels as being impervious to damage by the ice, an assumption upon which Parry had sometimes acted unconsciously. Driving under a northerly breeze, the Hecla now made her way to the eastern shore of the inlet through a sea almost free from ice. On reaching Neill's Harbor, a small opening just south of Port Bowen, the ship was brought to anchor, while the crew set to work restowing the hold with the additional supplies brought from the Fury, preparatory to sailing for England. Here, on the shore, was buried John Page, able seaman, who died from the effects of an injury he had received several months before. On the last day of August the anchor was weighed, and the Hecla started for home. Some little difficulty was experienced getting out of the inlet, but the following day the explorers found them-

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selves off Cape York with open sea ahead of them. Little of interest occurred on the return voyage. The Hecla reached Peterhead, in northern Scotland, on the twelfth of October, where Parry disembarked, taking the logs, journals and charts of the expedition with him, and set off for London, arriving there four days later. The Hecla proceeded to Sheerness, where she anchored on the twentieth, and a month later arrived at Woolwich, where the crew were paid off. While at Sheerness Captain Hoppner was obliged to stand court-martial for the loss of his ship, according to the customary proceeding of the Admiralty in cases involving such an event. The inquiry was a perfunctory one; Captain Hoppner gave an account of his misfortune and stated his reasons for abandoning the Fury; and the court, far from censuring the officer, exonerated him from all blame, while expressing a high opinion of the actions of all concerned in the expedition. "The Court," reads the verdict, "in justice to the services of Captain Parry, the officers, and ship's company of his Majesty's sloop Hecla, as well as those of Captain Hoppner, the officers, and ship's company of his Majesty's sloop Fury, to save his Majesty's said sloop Fury, cannot omit this opportunity of expressing the high opinion they entertain of their very distinguished exertions." In closing the narrative of his voyage, Parry still maintained his confidence in the existence of a passage, and the possibility of discovering it. His last voyage, he admitted, left the problem where it stood before; nevertheless, he felt encouraged at the favorable appearance of the sea at the southwestern end of Prince Regent Inlet, that is, at Cresswell Bay. He felt certain from what he had seen there that it was the place where further search for the passage should be directed. I feel confident [he says], that the undertaking, if it be deemed advisable at any future time to pursue it, will one day or other be accomplished;

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for, setting aside the accidents to which, from their very nature, such attempts must be liable, as well as other unfavourable circumstances which human foresight can never guard against, nor human power control, I cannot but believe it to be an enterprise well within the reasonable limits of practicability. It may be tried often, and often fail, for several favourable and fortunate circumstances must be combined for its accomplishment; but I believe nevertheless that it will ultimately be accomplished. . . . I am much mistaken, indeed if the Northwest Passage ever becomes the business of a single summer; nay, I believe that nothing but a concurrence of very favourable circumstances is likely even to make a single winter in the ice sufficient for its accomplishment. But this is no argument against the possibility of final success; for we now know that a winter in the ice may be passed not only in safety, but in health and comfort.

With such soliloquizing did Captain Parry bring his great achievements in the search for the Northwest Passage to a close. The work which this gallant Arctic explorer had done can scarcely be overestimated, for he had opened up the route from Baffin Bay through which the passage was finally discovered. When he set sail on the first of the voyages which he commanded, Baffin Bay, so far as was then known, was a closed gulf. This gulf Parry had opened up, showing the existence of a wide, deep channel, leading westward to what is known today as Beaufort Sea. Finding this channel blocked by the ice in McClure Strait, he attempted to discover a route through Repulse Bay and the Fox Channel, only to be turned back after a thorough exploration of the hitherto unknown territory around Fury and Hecla Strait. Nothing daunted, he played his last card, the route up Prince Regent Inlet. Thus Parry may be said to have unlocked the mysterious regions of the North, leaving the door wide open for his successors; he is, indeed, the pioneer of modern Arctic exploration. It is with deep regret, then, that we are obliged to take leave of Captain Parry, who now disappears from the chronicles of the Northwest Passage. The failure of his third I M

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voyage discouraged Parliament, for the time being, from dispatching any further expeditions by sea for the purpose of discovering a passage; but Parry, still eager to continue the work, succeeded in convincing Sir Humphrey Davy, President of the Royal Society, of the feasibility of reaching the Pole over the ice by sledge boats, and he embodied the plan in a memorial to Lord Melville. As a result, the Admiralty once again placed Captain Parry in command of the Hecla and in April, 1827, he set sail on his last expedition. Meanwhile, he had profited by his enforced idleness on shore to obtain in marriage the hand of Isabelle Louise Stanley, daughter of Lord Stanley. The ceremony was performed on October 23, 1826, though the lady's family had demurred, thinking it might be well to postpone the event until after the explorer's return. The enterprise now undertaken by Parry was to be one of short duration, though attended by considerable danger. He sailed for Spitzbergen with a party which numbered his old companions, Crozier, Foster, Beverley and J. C. Ross. The Hecla was taken to a sheltered harbor on the northern coast of Spitzbergen, and there left in charge of Lieutenants Foster and Crozier, while Parry set out in two boats, with Ross and Beverley, to work his way northward as far as possible, and return in time to take the Hecla back to England before winter set in. The boats were mounted on steel runners in such a manner that they could be dragged over the ice as well as sailed in open water; and thus the expedition was prepared to make its way under any conditions that might be encountered. The undertaking, of course, failed in its ultimate object, though Parry reached the latitude of 82o 45', a record which lasted for many years. After an absence of sixty-one days, the explorers were back on board the Hecla, and reached England in October.

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Years later we find Captain Parry, now Sir Edward, leading the life of a private gentleman, interesting himself much in affairs of a religious nature, and attending to his family. In the year 1845 he faced bankruptcy, owing to the failure of the Bank of Australia; but the affair was eventually straightened out, so that he suffered only a severe loss. In 1846, on account of failing health, he retired from his position of Comptroller of Steam Machinery and accepted in place of it the post of Captain-Superintendent of the Royal Clarence Yard and the naval hospital at Hasler. Here in the hospital he found himself engaged in work for which he had a natural aptitude and a strong liking, for it gave him an opportunity to care for disabled seamen and provide for their comfort. Indeed, as a sailor, and as a well-known and much-respected one, his influence, particularly in religious matters, over the men in his charge was unbounded. He visited the sick almost every day, and on Sunday evenings gave lectures at which he expounded the Scriptures. Here Sir Edward led a happy existence for six years, at which time he was promoted by virtue of seniority to the rank of rear admiral, and removed from his post at the hospital. He did not long survive the change. His health was never vigorous after his exposures in the Arctic; and three years after retiring from his work at Haslar he was taken seriously ill while traveling in Germany. Arriving at Ems in June, 1855, he placed himself under the care of a physician, and was able to take the baths and indulge in a little exercise; but as the month drew to a close, it was seen that the valiant sailor could not long survive; his family were summoned from England, and on the eighth of July he breathed his last.

1*4 3Ì

VII FRANKLIN'S SECOND OVERLAND

EXPEDITION

AND LYON'S VOYAGE

FRANKLIN'S SECOND OVERLAND EXPEDITION, AND LYON'S VOYAGE

I

N O R D E R to obtain a comprehensive grasp of the plan upon which the British government was working at this time for the discovery of the passage, it is necessary to regard Franklin's second expedition as one of a series of voyages undertaken simultaneously for the purpose of solving the mystery of the northern coast line of America, and making a complete survey of its outline from the Atlantic to the Pacific. With such objects in view, the general scheme could never be an entire failure; valuable geographical knowledge could be acquired even though the passage remained undiscovered. To Parry, as we have explained in the foregoing chapter, was assigned the principal task, namely, that of making the actual discovery; while the other expeditions were regarded in a sense as ancillary to his; their purpose was to explore the coast and to trace its continuity, thus determining the possibilities of a passage in the lower latitudes. The government's plan was therefore to dispatch two land expeditions: one under Commander Lyon and one under Captain Franklin, in the hope that they would be able to supplement each other's work. The relief ship selected to meet Franklin in Kotzebue Sound was the Blossom, which sailed from England under Captain F. W. Beechey, and made her way to the Arctic Ocean through Bering Strait by way of Cape Horn. Beechey's interesting adventures, we regret to state, play such a small part in our narrative that we shall refer to them only in connection with Franklin's work. As the reader is familiar with the third voyage of Captain []>47]]

FRANKLIN

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Parry, we shall now go back and take up the expeditions of Lyon and Franklin. The reader will recall Commander Lyon as the officer in charge of the Hecla on Parry's second voyage. T o this energetic and capable officer was now entrusted the expedition to Repulse Bay. He was given the Griper which had acted as consort to Parry's Hecla on the voyage to Melville Island. The Griper was not a speedy sailer, but roomy and comfortable, just the sort of ship to transport a land expedition to its destination, and act as a home for its members during the long Arctic winter. T o assist the party, a transport, the Snap, was attached to the Griper. She was to carry additional supplies as far as Hudson Strait, unload them on the other vessel, and return home before winter set in. The theory upon which the plan of this expedition was based was this: Parry on his second voyage had learned from the Eskimos that there was a huge body of water not far from the head of Repulse Bay and its neighbor, Lyon Inlet; and this was believed, correctly enough, to be connected with that sea which was found at the western entrance of Fury and Hecla Strait. Captain Lyon's expedition, therefore, was to winter in Repulse Bay, or on the Wager River, and make a journey the following spring across Rae Isthmus to the body of water north of it, taking boats and provisions for an extended cruise. On reaching the northern shore, Lyon was to launch his boats and to follow the coast line westward to Point Turnagain, making the usual observations as he went along. A copy of the instructions given Parry was handed to Lyon, that he might know where to look for the expedition going by way of Lancaster Sound. 1 As the venture of Captain Lyon proved a total failure, we shall content ourselves with giving it just a passing glance. The explorers set sail from Yarmouth Roads on June 19, 1824, and were soon on their way to Hudson Strait. As

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the Griper plowed her way laboriously across the Atlantic, the Snap frequently took her in tow, for this veteran of the Arctic, as Parry had learned from bitter experience, was anything but speedy. On reaching the entrance to Hudson Strait, the transport unloaded her stores on her consort and sailed for home. The Griper now continued her voyage alone, her gangways and forecastle filled with cables and hawsers, while her lower decks were crowded with miscellaneous stores. Thus loaded the ship made even less progress through the water than before, so that the month of August was wellnigh spent before she reached Southampton Island. Proceeding then up the western side of this island towards Cape Kendall, the vessel came on the first of September to a bay situated at a point where the coast trends westward. Here a tremendous sea was running, and dropping the lead from time to time Lyon soon found the water rapidly becoming more shallow as he approached the shore. At about nine o'clock in the morning he was obliged to let go his anchors and heave to in seven fathoms, the Griper burying her nose in the heavy rollers that came pouring in over her decks. It was then high tide, but there was a drop of about fifteen feet at this point, and it seemed impossible to save the ship. Everything was therefore made ready for a speedy departure; the longboat was hoisted overboard and filled with arms and provisions, while four other smaller craft were made ready for instant use. Officers drew lots for the boats, dividing the crew among them. In the afternoon the weather, which had been thick during the morning, cleared off, exposing a low beach astern of the ship, on which a terrific surf was pounding. The tide was now at its lowest ebb, leaving no leeway when the vessel dropped in the trough of the sea; indeed she did strike on several occasions when a particularly heavy sea swept by. During this time the waves broke over the ship, sweeping her from stem to stern. It now became ^491

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evident to all that nothing short of a miracle could save the doomed vessel; but in order to keep up the spirits of the crew Lyon ordered preparations to be made for the comfort of his men, as though nothing extraordinary was about to happen. And now that every thing in our power had been done [he says], I called all hands aft, and to a merciful God offered prayers for our preservation. I thanked every one for their excellent conduct, and cautioned them, as we should, in all probability, soon appear before our Maker, to enter His presence as men resigned to their fate. We then all sat down in groups, and, sheltered from the wash of the sea by whatever we could find, many of us endeavoured to obtain a little sleep. Never, perhaps, was witnessed a finer scene than on the deck of my little ship, when all hope of life had left us. Noble as the character of the British sailor is always allowed to be in cases of danger, yet I did not believe it to be possible, that amongst forty-one persons not one repining word should have been uttered. The officers sat about, wherever they could find shelter from the sea, and the men lay down conversing with each other with the most perfect calmness. Each was at peace with his neighbor and all the world, and I am firmly persuaded that the resignation which was then shown to the will of the Almighty, was the means of obtaining his mercy.

At six o'clock the rudder became unshipped, but by this time the tide had risen enough to permit the bottom of the vessel to clear the ground. A heavy rain fell, and with it the gale ceased. During the night a comparatively calm sea allowed the Griper to ride comfortably at her anchors, and early the following morning Captain Lyon was able to set sail. Before leaving he gave the name of Bay of God's Mercy to the harbor where he had weathered the gale, in memory of his almost miraculous deliverance; and thus it is known today. Lyon now proceeded on his voyage up the Welcome in the hope of reaching Repulse Bay before the close of navigation. The distance to his objective was not far, but the sluggish Griper could make but little headway. When off Wager River all progress apparently ceased, and the vessel lurched along with scarcely enough speed to keep her on her course. trasoí

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Presently a gale arose, bringing with it a tempestuous sea; the ship was hurriedly brought to anchor in the hope of riding out the storm, and eventually succeeded in resuming her northward course. But the gale increased in violence, the ship rolled bows under, and sleet fell on the decks coating them with ice. Throughout the night of the twelfth of September the storm continued with unabated fury. Never shall I forget the dreariness of this most anxious night [writes Lyon], Our ship pitched at such a rate, that it was not possible to stand even below, while on deck we were unable to move without holding by ropes which were stretched from side to side. The drift snow flew in such sharp heavy flakes, that we could not look to windward, and it froze on deck to above a foot in depth. The sea made incessant breaches quite fore and aft the ship, and the temporary warmth it gave while it washed over us, was most painfully checked by its almost immediately freezing on our clothes. To these discomforts were added the horrible uncertainty as to whether the cables would hold until day-light, and the conviction also that if they failed us, we should instantly be dashed to pieces; the wind blowing directly to the quarter in which we knew the shore must lie. Again, should they continue to hold us, we feared by ship's complaining so much forward, that the bitts would be torn up, or that she would settle down at her anchors, overpowered by some of the tremendous seas which burst over her. . . . The hurricane blew with such violence as to be perfectly deafening; and the heavy wash of the sea made it difficult to reach the mainmast, where the officer of the watch and his people sat shivering, completely cased in frozen snow, under a small tarpaulin, before which ropes were stretched to preserve them in their places. I never beheld a darker night, and its gloom increased by the rays of a small horn lantern which was suspended from the mizzen stay to shew where the people sat.

At six o'clock the following morning the cables parted, and the ship lay to, her broadside exposed to the gale. At this moment, fortunately, the wind shifted to the north-northwest, driving the Griper slowly but surely away from the shore. For a while the crew were safe, but the vessel was badly crippled by the loss of her anchors as well as by the loss of a large amount of her stores, a substantial portion of Œ251I

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which had been thrown overboard during the storms. Hastily calling his officers together, Lyon placed the situation before them, requesting their opinions. Under the circumstances, it seemed folly to attempt to prolong the voyage. A course was therefore set for England, and after an uneventful passage the Griper entered Portsmouth on the tenth of November. Meanwhile, Captain Franklin was making arrangements for his second overland journey to the Arctic Ocean. 2 When, toward the end of the year 1823, the government was preparing to dispatch Parry on his third voyage, Franklin laid before the officials the plan to explore the Arctic Coast, which we shall presently give. After some little effort expended in persuading them to accept his scheme, for the government, mindful of the horrors of the first overland voyage, hesitated to indorse a second, Franklin was able to satisfy the authorities that these sufferings need not be repeated, and received from Earl Bathurst, who was then in charge of these expeditions, orders to proceed with his plans. Franklin at once enlisted his old companions, Dr. Richardson and Lieutenant Back, who, be it said to their credit, accepted the positions offered them with no thought of the privations they had undergone on their previous venture. Franklin also secured the services of Mr. E. N. Kendall, Admiralty mate, who was to act as surveyor, and Mr. Thomas Drummond, a naturalist. As traveling in Canada necessitated dealing with the Indians, it was deemed advisable to employ some one residing in the locality who had experience in handling them. For this purpose Franklin selected Mr. Peter W. Dease, chief trader of the Hudson's Bay Company, and obtained permission from the government to enroll him in the expedition. He also opened an extensive correspondence with the governor and directors of bs al

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the company, from whom he obtained promises of support; and they immediately sent letters to their officers in C a n a d a , ordering them to supply the expedition with provisions. E v e r y precaution was taken to secure a proper supply of food for the undertaking, in order to prevent a recurrence of the starvation experienced on the previous voyage. Orders were sent to C a n a d a early in 1824 for the manufacture of pemmican, the mainstay of the explorer's larder; but as this provision was prepared during the winter and spring, it could not be made ready until the spring of 1825; hence there was no object in hurrying the departure of the expedition in order to reach the fur country before that time. A large q u a n t i t y of supplies was forwarded by w a y of N e w Y o r k to M r . M ' V i c a r , in order to relieve the travelers of as much of their impedimenta as possible, and thus accelerate their arrival at Great Bear L a k e , where their winter quarters were to be established. In addition to these stores, supplies were obtained in Canada and forwarded to M ' V i c a r , w h o in turn was to ship them to Dease at L a k e Athabasca, where the latter was to live and support his people by fishing during the winter. T h e following spring Dease was to go to Great Bear L a k e and make ready for the reception of the expedition. In June, 1824, Franklin sent out a party of men, in which two carpenters were included, in the Hudson's B a y C o m p a n y ' s ship, bound for Y o r k Factory. These men took with them a certain amount of stores and three light boats for use on the rivers. T h e y were to proceed to Cumberland House, where they were to spend the winter, going to Great Bear L a k e in the spring. Furthermore, two large canoes were sent to the station of Penetanguishene at the southern end of Georgian B a y on the route Franklin was to follow. Clearly the present expedition was not to suffer from lack of food. T h e question of a suitable style of boat for the undertaking was not an easy one to solve, for the craft to be used by

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the explorers must have enough strength to allow them to shoot the rapids of the Mackenzie and to navigate the Arctic Ocean, yet be light enough to permit their being carried over the portages without too much effort. For this reason Franklin caused the boats to be built according to his own designs. They were constructed of mahogany with timbers of ash. The largest was twenty-six feet in length, five feet four inches in breadth; it was capable of accommodating six oarsmén, a steersman and an officer, besides stores to the weight of three tons. A set of sails was also added to the equipment of each boat. In addition to the regular craft, there was a small collapsible affair, nine feet long and four feet four inches wide, weighing only eighty-five pounds, which could be taken apart and carried in separate sections. From its shape it was given the name of Walnut-shell. Upon trial, the frail bark proved eminently satisfactory; several ladies embarked in it, and amused themselves by sailing across the Thames. The stores taken on this expedition were of the usual kind: guns, ammunition, clothing, bedding, tools, foods not procurable in the Arctic, and a supply of stuff for trading with the Indians. The official instructions, given the explorer by the Earl of Bathurst on January 3 1 , 1825, ordered him to carry on the work along the same general lines as he had himself laid out. He was to take ship from Liverpool to New York, whence he was to make his way by the shortest route to Lake Huron and pick up the stores awaiting him at Penetanguishene. From there he was to go to Great Bear Lake and spend the winter. The following spring his party was to descend the Mackenzie to the Arctic Ocean, where they were to divide into two groups: one, under Franklin himself; the other under Richardson and Kendall. Franklin was to go westward toward Kotzebue Sound, where he should find Captain Beechey and take passage with him for home; or he might 0>54l

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return to the Mackenzie without communicating with Beechey, if he felt he could do so before the close of the season. Richardson's party, on the other hand, was to make its way eastward to the Coppermine. Franklin and his followers embarked on February 16, 1825, to the cheers of a crowd of admirers who had come down to the docks to see them off. A month later they landed in New York, where they were received by the authorities with every mark of attention. After a stay of eight days, they went on board the steamer Olive Branch, and were carried up the majestic Hudson to Albany, at which place they were welcomed by Gov. De Witt Clinton. The land journey now began. The party traveled by stagecoach up the Mohawk Valley to Utica, then westward, skirting the northern edge of the Finger Lakes region, to Geneva and Rochester, until they finally halted at Niagara Falls. Crossing the river, they entered Canada, and taking ship sailed on Lake Ontario to the town of York, near modern Toronto, whence they made their way northward to the shores of Georgian Bay. Here, at Penetanguishene, they rested for a week, awaiting the arrival of the Canadian voyageurs from Montreal. The party had now increased to thirty-three men. Embarking in two large canoes, called canots de maître by the Canadians, and which his agents had brought to Penetanguishene the previous autumn, Franklin led his people across Lake Huron, and thence to Fort William on Lake Superior, at the mouth of the Kaministikwia River, where he exchanged his canoes for four smaller ones, more serviceable in navigating the intricate waterways upon which he was about to embark. His course now lay along a route discovered by French explorers a century before. Ascending the Kaministikwia, Franklin passed through Rainy Lake and Lake of the Woods, then down the Winnipeg River to the lake of the same name. Here he found himself at last in

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familiar territory, and from now on we see him traversing a country known to us by the account of his first expedition. The party reached Cumberland House on the Saskatchewan on the fifteenth of June, and found that the boats which Franklin had sent on from England with their crews had preceded them there. It is unnecessary to trace the rest of the journey in detail. The explorers overtook the canoes containing the bulk of their supplies on the Methye River, and arrived at Fort Chipewyan on Lake Athabasca just a month after leaving Cumberland House. Two weeks later they were at Fort Resolution, the new depot of the Hudson's Bay Company on the shore of Great Slave Lake opposite MooseDeer Island, where they found M'Vicar in charge of the supplies he had brought up for them from Canada. Here they also met some of their old friends among the chiefs of the Copper Indians. And now that they had passed all the portages on the road to Great Bear Lake, the Canadian voyageurs celebrated this happy event by an informal dance. At this point the explorers entered upon fresh territory, for there the route, which up till now had been the same as the one they had previously taken to reach Fort Enterprise, struck off in a westerly trend to Great Bear Lake. The Copper Indians had declined to accompany the British to their winter quarters on this body of water, as the Dog-Ribs, who lived along its shores, had massacred a number of Copper braves, and the latter feared that the sight of the graves of their fellow tribesmen might inflame them to acts of hostility. The Dog-Ribs, then, were those to whom the English were to look for food during the coming winter. On the second of August the party entered the Mackenzie River, which carries the waters of Great Slave Lake to the Arctic Ocean. Driven by the wind and hurried forward by the current, the boats made excellent time, gliding down the stream, now on an even keel, now bounding along over bs(>l

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the rapids. On reaching the mouth of the T r o u t R i v e r , the party found the M a c k e n z i e had widened to a spread of two miles, flowing between banks of m u d d y clay. F i v e miles farther down the main stream is divided b y a group of islands into channels through which its waters flow with ever increasing swiftness. N o w the banks became higher, the river maintaining a breadth of between half a mile and one mile, and inclining more toward the north. C o m i n g to the junction of the R i v e r of the Mountains with the Mackenzie, the explorers found F o r t Simpson, a post of the Hudson's B a y C o m p a n y , situated 338 miles from F o r t Resolution. Franklin took this occasion to arrange with M r . Smith, factor of the place, for the supplies to be provided for him at G r e a t Bear Lake. T h i s done, he continued his j o u r n e y down the river. Shortly below F o r t Simpson the stream spread out to a width of two miles, and beyond its western bank the peaks of the R o c k y M o u n t a i n s could be seen in the far distance, their tops veiled b y the clouds. On the eastern side of the river there was also discernible a mountain range, white as marble and shining in the sun like a gigantic bank of snow. A f t e r traveling 230 miles from F o r t Simpson, at a high rate of speed, the p a r t y arrived at F o r t N o r m a n , situated at the mouth of the river which empties the waters of Great Bear L a k e into the Mackenzie. A s there still remained some five or six weeks of open season, Franklin determined to put into operation a plan he had had in mind ever since leaving E n g land, but which he had not divulged to his companions until they had left F o r t C h i p e w y a n , for fear that they might not arrive at F o r t N o r m a n in time to carry it out. His scheme was to m a k e , accompanied b y M r . Kendall, a preliminary reconnaissance of the route down the Mackenzie to the sea, which the p a r t y was to take the following year; while Dr. Richardson was left to explore the northern shore line of Great Bear L a k e to the place nearest the Coppermine River, Q257I

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where he was to select a spot to which he might bring his party, when he returned up that stream after exploring the Arctic Coast from the Mackenzie to its mouth. Meanwhile, Lieutenant Back was to superintend the erection of suitable winter quarters. This plan, being deemed practicable, was at once put into effect. Certain voyageurs, who had been employed to bring up the supplies, were now dismissed and sent back to southern Canada. On the eighth of August Franklin started on his journey. His party descended the stream of the Mackenzie to the mouth of Bear Lake River, as the river draining Great Bear Lake is called, where the commander took leave of his lieutenants, who now directed their steps to the lake; then hoisting sail, he glided northward on his way to the sea. The current in this part of the river flows at the rate of two and one-half miles an hour, which enabled the boat to proceed at a rapid rate whether under sail or propelled by paddles. It was nearly midnight on the tenth of August when the party reached Fort Good Hope, northernmost of the company's posts, where Dease welcomed them, surprised that they should have attained his station so early in the season. Dease had just established the post for the benefit of the Loucheux Indians, sworn enemies of the Eskimos. Anxious to proceed as far as possible before cold weather set in Franklin did not tarry long, but accompanied by Mr. Dease made his way northward to the Trading River, usually the farthest north attained in this locality by the traders. Here a half-breed guide was secured, for the voyageur who had led the party from Fort Norman refused to go any farther. At this point the Mackenzie displays a width of two miles with a depth of barely more than twelve feet. Several Loucheux villages were now encountered, and the savages residing in them gave Franklin and his men a reasonably friendly reception, once their fears were allayed. Proceeding I* 5 81

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still farther, the travelers found the river narrowed perceptibly. Eight miles beyond the villages the geographical aspect of the stream changed completely, for the river, which had thus far been a single channel, divided itself into several branches on its final journey to the sea. After selecting the easternmost channel, as the current there seemed more rapid, Franklin landed on the shore to survey the scene, for he was anxious to make certain that he was on the right track. From what he saw, he concluded, rightfully enough, that he was now on the expanse of the river previously noted by Mackenzie, and therefore on the proper route to the ocean. The channel which the explorers now entered proved to be the principal one. After descending it for about twenty miles, they found themselves well among the islands that block the estuary. At the northern end of Simpson Island, Eskimo huts were discovered, but the settlement proved to be uninhabited; it was the place where Livingstone, a former explorer, was supposed to have been massacred with his crew by a party of natives. Huts now became more frequent as the explorers journeyed down the stream, though none showed signs of being tenanted. After passing Halkett Island, the largest of the group, they found the stream turning in a southwesterly direction, and followed its course for a distance of eight miles, when it turned toward the northwest. Proceeding in this direction for a short distance, they came presently to a large channel, the main branch of the Mackenzie, which rushed down with a huge volume of water. Here the Englishmen turned northward again, entering the wide body of water that separates Langley from Colville Island, and empties itself into the sea. The party advanced out of the mouth of the river to pitch their camp upon Pitt Island, situated not far from the shore. Here the haze, which had for some time hung over the landscape, suddenly cleared, disclosing to their astonished eyes a splendid view of the [ M

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panorama before them, the Richardson Mountains looming up in the distance sixty miles away. A strong gale kept the expedition on Pitt Island, where they improved their time by exploring the neighborhood, while the guides went forth to hunt. When the storm had abated sufficiently to permit them to take to their boats, they returned to a point they had noticed on the journey down, which they decided formed the actual mouth of the river, and taking an observation, placed it at latitude 69 o , longitude 1350 57' W . Here they sighted an island to the northeast which they wished to survey. Heading the boat in its direction, they succeeded in reaching their objective after an exhausting struggle against a strong head wind. A t sunset they landed on the beach and, quickly ascending a peak which rose 250 feet above the sea, discerned far to the north of them an ocean free from ice. " T h e whole scene," writes Franklin, "was calculated to excite in our minds the most flattering expectations as to our own success, and that of our friends in the Hecla and Fury." And here on this island of the Polar Sea, which he named Garry Island, he flung to the breeze the silk union jack, made for him by the loving hands of the wife he had left dying in England. She had given it to him with the injunction not to unfurl it until he reached the sea. Mrs. Franklin died a few days after the expedition left England, but her husband was not apprised of her decease before the month of April; until then, he had endeavored to fortify himself with the belief that she would ultimately recover, and to this end wrote her many letters. While he was composing the last of these epistles at Penetanguishene, news was brought him of Mrs. Franklin's death, and he broke off the letter with these words: "Seven o'clock p. m. The distressing intelligence of my dearest wife's death has just reached me." It is small wonder, then, that when her flag was hoisted on its staff, he wrote: ^ 60]]

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I will not a t t e m p t to describe m y emotions as it expanded to the b r e e z e — h o w e v e r natural, and, for the moment, irresistible, I felt that it w a s m y d u t y to suppress t h e m , and that I had no right, by an indulgence o f m y o w n sorrows, to cloud the animated countenances of m y companions. Joining, therefore, w i t h the best grace that I could command, in the general excitement, I endeavored to return, with corresponding cheerfulness, their w a r m congratulations on h a v i n g thus planted the British flag on this remote island o f the Polar Sea.

The explorers now prepared to return. A strong wind was blowing, but as the boat was a stout affair, no difficulty was experienced in sailing from Garry Island to the mouth of the Mackenzie. Ascending this stream over the same route by which they had reached the sea, the travelers met with no unusual experience, though they soon found that struggling against the current was a more difficult task than gliding down with it. Leaving Garry Island on the eighteenth, they reached Fort Good Hope five days later, where they were heartily welcomed by Mr. Dease, who had begun to fear that a report which the Indians had spread to the effect that the English had been exterminated by the Eskimos, might indeed be true. Franklin urged him to use his utmost efforts in getting the Indians to collect a supply of meat for the use of the party during the coming summer, and this the trader promised to do, though he warned the commander at the same time that the Indians about his post were a rather shiftless lot. A week later Franklin and his men were at the mouth of the Bear Lake River after a tedious seven days' paddling and tracking against the current. The temperature, which had been moderate up to this time—on one occasion the mercury touched 76 o —now took a sudden drop, and before they reached Great Bear Lake the thermometer registered 10 o above zero. On the first of September they left the Mackenzie, proceeding directly to winter quarters, where they were joined by their companions after a journey of five days. Ρ 61]]

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Richardson reported that he had explored the northern shore of the lake and selected a spot at the first rapid of the Dease R i v e r — a stream flowing from the north into Great Bear Lake—which he believed to be the place nearest the Coppermine, an excellent location for a rendezvous to be used the following year as the objective of his expedition on his return journey from the sea. T h e distance covered by the travelers during this year was enormous, totaling 5,803 miles since leaving New Y o r k . Of this mileage nearly one-half was surveyed by the members of the party; it includes, of course, the separate journey of Dr. Richardson along the shore of Great Bear Lake. The buildings which Franklin found ready for him when he arrived at winter quarters were eminently satisfactory, having been specially constructed for the purpose. The post had been erected on the site of a fort which had once belonged to the North-West Company. This company, it may be said, was now merged with the Hudson's B a y . The houses, four in number, consisted of a building for the officers, forty-four feet by twenty-four, which was flanked by two others, a house for the men on the right, and one for the interpreter and his family, comprising also a storeroom, on the left. There was also a small structure containing a blacksmith's shop and a store. All were enclosed within the stockade of the old fort. The site was an excellent one. It was located on a dry sand bank well above the level of the lake, about eighty yards from the shore, the place selected being near the entrance to Bear Lake River. T h e post was named after Captain Franklin. The party which was to spend the winter at this station numbered about fifty persons, consisting of five officers, including Dease, nineteen British sailors and marines, nine Canadians, two Eskimos, four Chipewyans, three women and a few children and miscellaneous Indians. As this large number of people could Œ262D

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not obtain a living by fishing in one locality, two houses were built several miles from the fort, to relieve the congestion at the main station from time to time. Work was organized in a regular manner. T o one group was assigned the task of tending the fishing nets; to another the duties of hunting; to a third the work of keeping the houses supplied with fuel; while two expert travelers served as messengers to convey letters to and from the forts on the Mackenzie and on Great Slave Lake. During the long winter nights the officers held classes of instruction on elementary subjects for the benefit of the men. T h e officers, for their part, found ample to do, for one of the objects of the expedition was the acquisition of scientific knowledge; hence their time was well occupied in recording observations almost hourly, especially in regard to temperature and atmospheric conditions. Charts were also made according to the calculations observed during the previous season. T h e winter passed uneventfully enough and much like the one on Franklin's first journey. During February (1826) the supply of fish and dried meat gave out, placing the party in a precarious condition. Three sledges were therefore sent to Fort Norman to obtain a supply of pemmican and portable soup. Franklin took this opportunity to write Governor Simpson at Y o r k Factory asking for supplies, and requesting a means of conveyance for the use of the explorers when they made their return journey to southern Canada the following year. In this request he spoke for the whole party, not merely for Richardson's division, as he did not feel certain of reaching Beechey's ship in Kotzebue Sound, and wished to provide for his men in case he was obliged to return by the Mackenzie River. Fortunately, the situation improved by the first of March; the hunters were able to secure some fresh meat, and a supply of fish was secured at the place where the Dog-Ribs had located themselves; and this, taken I M

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together with the pemmican brought from Fort Norman, proved sufficient to tide the party over until spring. Toward the end of March Franklin learned from the men he had sent to Fort Simpson that a party of Chipewyans had brought to Great Slave Lake a report that they had seen on the seacoast, east of the Coppermine, a saw pit and some tools that seemed to indicate the presence of white men. From this Franklin deduced that Parry had laid up his ships for the winter in a harbor near Bathurst Inlet, which he (Franklin) had explored on his first expedition, and had then sent hunters up the Coppermine in search of food. Franklin therefore at once sent letters to Mr. M'Vicar at Great Slave Lake, asking for more definite information on the subject, and urging him to send Indians at once to the spot to act as hunters for the party, or to carry their letters to the nearest posts. Had he learned of this sooner, Franklin assures us, he would have sent some of his own men to the supposed encampment. At any rate this report, false as it was, proved a source of much encouragement to the explorers at Fort Franklin. By the middle of March the winter began to break up; a six days' thaw melted the snow, and the carpenters began work on a new boat for use during the coming season. This craft was modeled after Franklin's largest boat, the Lion. It was built of fir with birch supports, twenty-six feet in length and five feet, eight inches, in breadth. To make it waterproof, the interstices between the planks were filled with strips of canvas soaked in varnish, the entire hull being covered with a resin secured from the pine trees in the neighborhood. The boat (named the Reliance) was finished in two months, and the other boats were also repaired and put in condition for the work the explorers were about to undertake. By the first of June preparations for the voyage were near completion. Franklin arranged to have the interi n i

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preter, Beaulieu, remain at the fort until the sixth of August, when he should go with four Canadians to the Dease River, there to await the return of Dr. Richardson from the Coppermine. If Richardson's party failed to appear by the twentieth of September, Beaulieu was to leave a boat with a suitable supply of provisions, and lead his men back to the fort. Mr. Dease was charged with seeing that the work of Beaulieu was properly executed, with special reference to his taking with him enough food to supply the physician and his men. Franklin, mindful of his own narrow escape from starvation on his first journey, cautioned Dease against assuming that the western detachment had met Captain Beechey if it failed to return the following autumn, and ordered him to keep Fort Franklin in condition until the spring of 1827. As a precaution against any failure on the part of Dease to live up to his instructions, Franklin urged Richardson to see to it that the trader fully understood his orders, and was prepared to keep the post well provisioned when he (Richardson) returned there. T h e commander now divided his men into two detachments. For his own party he selected Lieutenant Back, the Indian, Augustus, and thirteen men, to whom were assigned the two larger boats, the Lion and the Reliance; while Dr. Richardson took with him Kendall, the Indian, Ooligbuck, and nine men, who were to go in the smaller craft, the Dolphin and the Union. Franklin also added to his party two Canadian voyageurs, François Felix and Alexis Vivier. Everything being ready on the fifteenth of June, it was decided to launch the expeditions with proper ceremony. New uniforms of sky-blue waterproof clothing, ornamented with feathers, were distributed among the company, a small portion of rum was rationed out to the men, and after a noisy celebration the festivities closed with a dance. On Sunday the entire party, attired in their new uniforms, attended divine service

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at which the blessing of G o d was sought for the successful outcome of the undertaking. On the twenty-first a favorable wind sprang up, which moved the ice and opened a passage to Bear L a k e R i v e r ; the final packing began at once, the boats were loaded, and at half-past ten in the morning, Franklin and Richardson started with their divisions on the journey to the Polar Sea. B y now the summer season had begun, and the explorers were commencing to experience the considerable degree of warmth that comes at this period of the year, even within the Arctic Circle. W h e n they arrived at Bear L a k e River, the thermometer stood at 74 o in the shade, by no means the highest temperature they were to encounter, so that we must consider them as men traveling, not through the frigid wastes of the Arctic Zone, b u t under conditions similar to those found in our own country during the cooler portions of the summer. On reaching the Mackenzie R i v e r , Franklin first ascended the stream for a short distance to Fort N o r m a n , where he took on an additional supply of tools and trinkets for use in trading with the Eskimos. In order to m a k e traveling down the river easier, particularly in passing over the shoals with which it abounded near its mouth, the h e a v y stores were placed in a bateau that was to accompany the party as far as the sea. Little of interest occurred on the voyage downstream. Stopping for a moment at Fort Good Hope, they met a tribe of Loucheux Indians whose good will they secured b y a few presents; then resuming their journey they came, on the third of J u l y , to the place where the river expands into the different channels that form its estuary. Here Franklin handed Richardson the final instructions for his voyage eastward along the coast, the substance of which we have given before, with the warning that if he did not reach the Coppermine b y the end of A u g u s t , or the Great Bear L a k e Portage b y the twentieth of September, he was [[266]]

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not to expose his men to any further risk, but was to return to Fort Franklin by the Mackenzie or any shorter route he might discover. The following day the two detachments lined up on the river bank to bid each other farewell. Franklin's "western p a r t y " was the first to embark; and pushing off from the shore they started on their way as Richardson and his men gave three hearty cheers, which were returned with interest. As they passed from sight around a point, they saw the "eastern p a r t y " climbing into their boats and putting off for the eastern channel of the river. We shall now leave the eastern party for a while to follow Captain Franklin down the western branch of the Mackenzie and along the Arctic shore toward Icy Cape. Franklin's party made their way downstream in the direction of the Rocky Mountains, which were visible some distance away on the western horizon. Rounding Simpson Island, the commander led his men into the channel between the mainland and Halkett Island, and continued down the coast to the sea. Here he discovered a tribe of Eskimos encamped on an island near the shore. From what he had been able to learn from the Indians, the Eskimo people were likely to prove hostile to any strangers entering their territory. Franklin was therefore all the more anxious to make his first contact with these children of the Arctic a friendly one; hence he decided to leave his men behind him and proceed to the island accompanied only by Augustus, the interpreter, though he took the precaution of ordering his followers to stand ready to come to his assistance if trouble broke out. He also warned them not to open fire until ordered to do so, as savages frequently mistook noise and disturbance for hostility. When about a mile from the island the boats grounded, and the Eskimos seeing that something unusual was afoot came out to inspect the strangers. The village was a large one. Over seventy kayaks put off from the shore and

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swarmed about the stranded boats. Augustus explained to these natives the object of the white men's visit, offering them at the same time the usual gifts, as evidence of friendly intentions. Trade of a limited sort at once began, and presently the crowd surrounding the boats increased to over three hundred persons, all anxious to have a share in the unusual business. Gratifying as this was to men desiring the friendship of the natives, it soon became somewhat annoying, as the savages closed about the boats intent on getting everything they could. Orders were therefore given to proceed back toward the coast; but when the crews attempted to do so the Lion was found to be caught in shoal water and unable to move. The Eskimos, seeing the plight of the strangers, at once left their kayaks and waded to the boat, crowding around it and stealing whatever they could lay their hands on. To rid himself of these thieves, Franklin had Augustus tell them that if they would leave the white men alone for the present he would return to them later with a larger supply of goods which he expected to obtain from a ship farther down the coast. Apparently this had the desired effect, for the natives now began to assist the Englishmen in floating their boats and hauling them toward the shore. But when they arrived at the beach the attitude of the Eskimos suddenly changed. Crowding about the craft they set to work plundering them in a wholesale manner, despite the protests of their chiefs, while the sailors attempted to beat them off with the butts of their muskets. Franklin and Back endeavored to protect their property without bloodshed, and their crews behaved in an admirable manner, considering the extent of the provocation they received, for one or two of them were wounded by the knife thrusts; but in the end the party managed to get rid of the savages by leveling their guns at them, a maneuver which sent the robbers scurrying to cover. 1*681]

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The explorers were now able to resume their journey; the boats were shoved off and they made haste to get away from the scene of the encounter. But the water was shallow in this locality, and they had not gone far when they suddenly grounded again. A small group of Eskimos, who had followed along the shore, now invited Augustus to join them. The interpreter, glad of the opportunity of striking up a friendship with the savages, waded ashore and proceeded to harangue them about their recent conduct. Rebuking them for their thefts, he pointed out that the white men were the friends of the Indians. His own tribe, he said, had formerly been in the same state as the Eskimos, but the English had brought them large supplies of necessary articles, so that now they were well clothed and comfortable. These privileges were at present open to the Eskimos if they would treat the strangers kindly, but nothing could be accomplished by violence, as the white men were well armed and able to destroy their enemies. The natives appeared impressed by the arguments which Augustus set forth, and changed their manner completely. They even volunteered the information that the tide would be at its flood about midnight, when it would be possible to float the boats and resume the journey. When night came the Eskimos disappeared. At midnight the explorers got under way and proceeded down the shore about six miles, where they landed. Tired out by the strenuous day's work, they now lay down to rest and were soon fast asleep. The following morning, after effecting minor repairs to the rigging and sails, damaged in the encounter of the previous day, they again launched their little vessels; but they had scarcely left the shore when the Eskimos appeared in great numbers, driving their kayaks through the water in a vain attempt to overtake the Englishmen. Franklin, however, after his experience of the day before, had no desire of being again surrounded by savages, even though they were Œ269J

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to all appearances friendly, so he discouraged their further advance by firing a shot across the bow of the leading canoe, a message that had the desired effect, for the fleet at once turned about and returned whence it had come. It was fortunate for his men that the commander acted in this manner, for, as he learned later in the summer, the natives were bent on mischief. It appears that after they had been beaten off by the English the day before, they had retired to their island to discuss the situation, and had concluded that the best way to obtain the supplies which they had seen in the boats was to massacre the entire party, including Augustus, who was too firmly attached to the English to be won over. On perceiving the smoke of the explorers' camp fire in the distance, they determined to act at once, sending a kayak ahead with a few stolen articles which they expected to use as decoys, by pretending that they had repented of their thefts, and were about to make restitution. In this manner the English boats could be held up until the main body of the kayaks could surround them. Fortunately Franklin's eagerness to press on saved the day, although he was at the time ignorant of the hostile intentions of the savages. Franklin now continued his course westward, stopping at various points on the shore to rest during the night, and being occasionally held up by the ice thrown across his path. Shortly after leaving the Eskimos at Pillage Point, as he called the place of his misadventure, he encountered another tribe of Eskimos, but one of vastly different temper from the savages he had already met. They were friendly natives, somewhat fearful of the white men, having heard of their prowess from the Loucheux, and interested only in securing what they could by means of trade. The English, anxious to make a good impression, plied these kindly folk with presents while Lieutenant Back amused them by drawing their portraits and sketching their encampment, thus obtaining

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valuable illustrations of the appearance and customs of these people. Upon inquiry Franklin learned that this particular tribe cherished feelings of hostility for the tribe which had attacked him. When he told of the treatment he had received at the hands of this band, they expressed great sympathy, and even offered to lend assistance, should the white men have occasion to pass through the lands of these savages on their return journey, for they felt that the treacherous action of the eastern tribe reflected somewhat on the entire Eskimo nation. Those are bad men [they said, referring to these people], and never fail either to quarrel with us, or steal from us, when we meet. T h e y come, every spring, from the eastern side of the Mackenzie, to fish at the place where you saw them, and return as soon as the ice opens. T h e y are distinguished from us, who live to the westward of the river, by the men being tattooed across the face. Among our tribes the women only are tattooed. If you are obliged to return by this way, before these people remove, we, with a reinforcement of young men, will be in the vicinity, and will willingly accompany you to assist in repelling any attack.

Taking leave of these friendly people, the travelers proceeded on their way until they came, on the fifteenth of the month, to a promontory where they found their further passage blocked by ice. This place Franklin named Kay Point, and the harbor just beyond it, Phillips Bay. The boats were pulled up on the shore while the party surveyed the locality, making sketches of the scenery and taking observations. Here they were able to obtain a correct idea of the formation of the Rocky Mountains, which they saw were not a continuous chain, but a group of detached ranges. These detached groups Franklin proceeded to note on his map, giving them the names of various persons of prominence. Here the commander was pleased to learn that the natives were looking to an immediate break in the ice that would permit his reaching an island, to which he later gave the name of Herschel, situated farther along the coast on the

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one hundred and thirty-ninth meridian. This prediction proved true to a certain extent, and the boats were presently able to proceed about half way to the island, when they again found themselves blocked by the ice. This, however, broke up presently, enabling the party to make Herschel Island by the seventeenth of the month. After remaining here a few days, again detained by the ice, the explorers continued on their way in a leisurely manner, making note of all points of interest on their chart, and taking copious observations of their surroundings. T h e y presently reached a river which, according to Franklin, was the westernmost stream in British territory, as it was situated near the boundary between Canada and Russian Alaska in longitude 1400 46'. This stream the commander named after the Duke of Clarence, Lord High Admiral of the N a v y . T o celebrate the event, a tin box, containing a silver medal and an account of the achievements of the undertaking thus far, was buried under a pile of driftwood, and the union jack was hoisted over the place. A little farther on they came to the actual boundary (longitude 141 0 ), and named the spot Demarcation Point. From there they proceeded farther westward. It was now slow traveling, beset as they were by ice, fog and shallow water, but it gave Lieutenant Back ample opportunity to use his artistic skill in sketching the valuable drawings with which Franklin's narrative is profusely illustrated. When the month of August was half spent, Franklin paused to consider the situation. He had now reached a point half way between the Mackenzie River and Icy Cape; and judging from the rate of progress he had made thus far, it seemed impossible for him to reach the cape, to say nothing of Kotzebue Sound, before winter put an end to navigation. The most favorable part of the year for traveling, as Franklin knew from experience, was now rapidly drawing to a close,

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for he remembered the gales that sprang up at the mouth of the Mackenzie just a year before, and the storms that came up at Point Turnagain when he was there in mid-August. His rate of travel up till now had been slow, and it was inconceivable that it would be any faster during the rest of the season. Y e t while there remained hope of reaching Bering Strait, he felt confident that he could, in case his boats were shipwrecked at this time, regain the Mackenzie on foot; but if he lost his boats toward the end of the season, it seemed inevitable that his men must perish. In regard to the work of discovery, Franklin believed that little more could be accomplished by extending his voyage farther west. Cook and Burney had described the shores of Icy Cape as being of the same character as those along which the present expedition had passed; and from what he could gather from the Eskimos, the intermediate coast line was substantially the same. Franklin therefore determined to turn back. He had reached longitude 148o 42' W., at a place he appropriately named Return Reef, and from there he could see far to the west a headland he called Point Back, and beyond that, on the horizon, another promontory which he named for Captain Beechey. This brought his discoveries to longitude 1490 37'. When he had returned to England, Franklin learned of the attempt which, strange to say, brought the two parties within 160 miles of each other. Beechey, on reaching Icy Cape, dispatched one of his subordinates, Mr. Elson, on the eighteenth of August, in command of a boat to make his way eastward as far as he could in the hope of meeting Franklin. Elson made good progress for four days, reaching longitude 156 o 2 1 1 2 0 miles beyond Icy Cape, but here the ice closed in on him. So badly was he beset that he felt it impossible to save his boat, and he therefore determined to abandon her and make his way back on foot; but before this 1*7 3Ü

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plan could be put into execution the ice receded enough to permit him to extricate his craft and to make his way back along the coast. On the tenth of September he rejoined the Blossom at Chamisso Island, at the head of Kotzebue Sound, where Beechey had gone for a supply of wood and water. "Could I have known, or by possibility imagined," says Franklin, "that a party from the Blossom had been at the distance of only one hundred and sixty miles from me, no difficulties, dangers, or discouraging circumstances, should have prevailed on me to return; but taking into account the uncertainty of all voyages in a sea obstructed by ice, I had no right to expect that the Blossom had advanced beyond Kotzebue Inlet, or that any party from her had doubled Icy Cape." But "where ignorance is bliss 'tis folly to be wise," and Franklin turned back to the Mackenzie River. The heavy gales that preceded the coming of winter were now beginning to blow, though the thermometer continued to show a temperature of the same general average as on the outward voyage. On reaching Foggy Island, where he had been detained by thick weather on his westward journey, Franklin stopped for the night, and erected a monument for the benefit of Captain Parry, should he pass that way. Underneath it he placed a tin box containing a letter for the commander. As Franklin was anxious to let his government know of his success thus far, in case the expedition should perish before reaching the Hudson's Bay Company's posts, he wrote a letter to the Russian traders in Alaska, in the hope that the Eskimos might carry it to their station, and that they in turn might forward it to England. The next day, as the wind had moderated, the boats put to sea, and made rapid progress eastward, stopping from time to time to allow their crews to rest and replenish their water casks. On that day the explorers traveled for nineteen hours, when, exhausted by their arduous toil, they stopped to rest for the [1*7411

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night. Two days later they passed Demarcation Point. The ice had now closed in, and the party found considerable difficulty in reaching Clarence River. From there they continued their course, going well outside the ice barrier, until they came abreast of Mt. Conybeare, when a strong east wind sprang u p and drove them to seek shelter inside the floes. It now became evident that it was best to make all possible haste to the Mackenzie River. Franklin was beginning to see the wisdom of the Eskimos when they expressed surprise that the white men had brought no sledges with them, for it was obvious that the ice might at any time unite with the shore, and force the boats to take the hazardous outside passage. When a favorable breeze arose, the crews at once got under way, and as the wind presently freshened to a moderate gale they were soon offHerschel Island. Here, as they were about to negotiate a narrow channel, a heavy fog closed in on them; but by good fortune, more than by skillful management, they contrived to reach the island in safety, where they met three members of a neighboring Eskimo tribe, gathered there to hunt deer. Leaving this place as soon as the weather cleared, they steered for Kay Point, arriving there at four o'clock in the afternoon. No stop was made at this headland, however, as the clear weather enabled the travelers to continue. Presently the scene changed. Toward evening a gale arose from the northwest, bringing with it a squall of sleet and snow, and whipping up the heaviest sea Franklin had ever encountered in a boat. With the sails close reefed and the crews bailing desperately to keep afloat, the little craft bounded over the waves, driven forward by the storm. After considerable difficulty, the explorers managed to work their way toward the land, taking good care not to expose their vessels broadside to the seas, until they descried a spot where a landing might be effected. By good fortune a shelving beach was discovered, and the 1*75 Ì

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boats were at once driven upon it, filling with water under the heavy surf; but the men fell to with a will, unloaded the cargoes, and dragged their vessels beyond the reach of the waves. The next day the gale had subsided, leaving a dead calm with a heavy ground swell running, as is often the case after a storm. Bedding and clothing were sorted out from the stores and spread out to dry, while the rest of the equipment was put in order. Owing to the surf, it was found impossible to launch the boats, so another day passed before the travelers were able to resume their journey. On the twentyeighth they got under way, and the next day arrived at the mouth of the Mackenzie River, where they met a village of Eskimos from whom they obtained guides to assist them over the shoals that block the entrance to the stream. Two days later they began the ascent of the river, and after an uneventful journey of three weeks reached Fort Franklin on the twenty-first of September. Meanwhile Dr. Richardson and his followers were enjoying novel adventures on their journey eastward. Leaving Point Separation (the place where they had said farewell to Franklin) on the fourth of July, they rowed up the river for two hours in order to gain the middle channel, made familiar to them by the early explorations of Mackenzie and also by Franklin's journey of the previous year. Ten miles down this channel they struck off to the right on a branch of the stream, and after a day's run of forty-two miles encamped on the river bank for the night. The following day they made a similar mileage, pitching camp near a village of Eskimos, from whom they learned of the existence of a huge lake, situated a short distance to the east, which Richardson calls Esquimaux Lake. One finds it, even on recent maps, in a tentative way; it is probably a huge arm of the sea. A t the [[276]]

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mouth of the Mackenzie, the party came to a curious island that had the appearance of being a continuation of the mainland. This place was evidently used by the natives as a burial ground, for here were found numerous bodies wrapped in skins, and laid out with their heads pointing to the west. Richardson called the place Sacred Island. Leaving this uncanny spot, Richardson now took his men through the channel, passing between the land and Richards Island, an island lying near the coast, and at the end of a brief journey came to a place where a band of Eskimos had pitched their tents. Drawing in close to the beach, the physician jumped ashore with his interpreter, Ooligbuck, while Kendall kept the boats afloat, ready for instant action in case the natives seemed hostile. At first the savages appeared frightened by the appearance of strangers, and emerged from their tents brandishing bows and knives; but by a judicious distribution of trifling gifts the commander succeeded in quelling their fears. Trade at once began. The Eskimos, gaining in confidence as the business progressed, soon changed their tone and became boisterous and threatening, for the purpose of extracting as much as they could from their strange guests. Alarmed at the turn of affairs, the two men retreated to the boats and shoved off before the natives, who had rushed into the water, could drag them back. As the white men pushed out to sea, the savages leaped into their kayaks and set out after them. For a while the two parties rowed side by side, the Eskimos endeavoring to obtain what they could by trade and questioning the Englishmen about every article of merchandise they did not understand, while the Englishmen endeavored to keep their dangerous customers satisfied. Continuing thus for some time, the two groups presently passed other settlements, whose inhabitants, when they saw what was going on, immediately launched their kayaks and started to join the [1*771

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pursuers. As the natives became more numerous they grew bolder, driving their canoes alongside the boats in an attempt to steal what they could not obtain by trade; but, strange to say, they good-naturedly restored anything which the Englishmen caught them taking, keeping only those things which they had been able to secure undetected. On the whole they were friendly enough, and rather less violent, in fact, than the ruffians who had assaulted Franklin's crews; so Richardson, considering discretion the better part of valor, decided that it was better not to antagonize them by a display of force. He also hit upon the expedient of disarming them by refusing to take any articles in trade except their bows. Later in the day, when one of the boats had grounded and the Eskimos were boarding her with drawn knives, the English were able to repel them merely by bringing their muskets up to their shoulders, for these savages had learned from their experience with the Indians to respect the deadliness of the white man's weapons. After this encounter, the Eskimos gave no further trouble, and the travelers were allowed to proceed in peace. As night came on the wind freshened, while an overcast sky gave every appearance of a coming storm. When rain began to fall the explorers attempted to make land, but as the water inshore was too shallow, they were unable to accomplish their purpose and were obliged to anchor their craft by means of poles driven into the mud forming the bottom of the sea in this locality. Unfortunately, when they had retired to rest, exhausted by the hard work of the day, a shift of wind threatened to drive the boats aground, compelling them to change the position of the craft at once. The weary crews rose and hastily cast loose. Then getting out their oars, they pulled valiantly against the storm until they had conveyed their little vessels into a near-by harbor, which, in recognition of the shelter it afforded them, they 1*781]

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named Refuge Cove. Again they lay down to secure a little rest, and again they were roused from their slumbers, this time to recapture the Union, which had broken loose from her moorings, and was being driven across the bay to a lee shore. Scarcely had the craft been once more secured and the explorers ensconced in their tent, when a violent gust of wind tore up the tent pegs, causing the canvas, now thoroughly drenched with rain, to fall upon the men beneath it. After this misfortune, which seemed a fitting climax to their search for a good night's rest, they built a huge fire around which they gathered to warm themselves and dry their clothes. Then drawing up the boats to form a breastwork in case of attack by the Eskimos, the crews took their tent to a more secluded spot, where they were able to set it up securely and obtain a few hours' sleep beneath its shelter. A t nine o'clock the following evening the boats were launched, and the party resumed the voyage, steering northward along the coast. About four hours later they perceived an ice floe to the north of them, nine miles away. When toward the morning a northerly breeze sprang up, bringing the floe down upon them, they drew in toward the shore, running close in to a promontory which Richardson named Point Toker. For several days the travelers continued on their way along the coast, noting all geographical features and giving names to the more prominent places. From time to time they met with Eskimos who mingled with them in a perfectly friendly spirit, very unlike those they had first encountered. In this manner they rounded Point Warren and entered Copland Hutchison Bay, mooring their boats for the night on Atkinson Island, where they discovered a number of houses erected as winter quarters by the natives. These curious dwellings consisted each of a room ten feet square around which were small compartments—they can scarcely be called rooms—large enough for one person to use as a [[279]]

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sleeping place. In addition to these houses, there was a building of ample size used as an assembly room, with a log roof supported on ridgepoles, which in turn rested on posts. The floor was formed of logs, and the walls, three feet in height, were banked with earth on the outside, thus forming an insulation against the cold. The work of construction, in Richardson's opinion, showed a considerable degree of intelligence. Leaving the island after a brief stay, the travelers continued down the coast under a fresh breeze, aiming at the easternmost point in sight. A fog springing up as the day wore on, the crew lost their bearings and, as the wind now began to blow toward the shore, they were presently hard put to it to find shelter. While thus beating about, they came upon a mass of seaweed, and following it in the hope that it might come from the mouth of a river, they soon reached a harbor which the commander named Browell Cove, where they passed the night. The next day saw them again on their course, sailing by Russell Inlet, a wide estuary of brackish water from which ran a strong current. This bay Richardson believed to be an outlet of Esquimaux Lake; in fact his map shows the entire coast line from Refuge Cove to Liverpool Bay, just beyond his present halting place, as a group of islands cutting off this lake from the sea. Crossing Russell Inlet, the party rounded Cape Dalhousie and entered the vast sweep of Liverpool Bay. The sight of this large gulf trending far to the southeast, filled the explorers with great joy, for here, they believed, was the end of the shoals that had perplexed them for so long, as the land they saw to the southeast rose high out of the sea, indicating a greater depth of water near the shore. A course was laid to an island (Nicholson Island) in the distance, but to their dismay they found, on reaching it, that the coast line of the bay beyond it trended in a northwesterly direction, thus cutting off all hope Œ280]]

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of attaining more southerly latitudes in this particular spot. T h e expedition continued its w a y up the newly discovered coast, opening up H a r r o w b y B a y , in reality a branch of the m a j o r gulf, until they came to its northern extremity, which Richardson called C a p e Bathurst. This cape is situated in latitude 70 o 36' and forms the third northernmost point of the American continent, being exceeded only by P o i n t Barrow and the northern extremity of Boothia Peninsula, which terminates at Bellot Strait. I t was with a feeling of pleasure, then, that the travelers rounded this headland and pointed their craft in a southeasterly direction, which course they believed they could hold until they reached the Coppermine River. T h e water was no longer shallow; the shore rose boldly into steep cliffs down which trickled the thawing ice and snow. T h e y made a distance of thirty-seven miles that d a y , the eighteenth of July. T h e next day the run showed thirty-two miles when they finally encamped at C a p e Fitton. On the w a y down they passed a curious formation of bituminous shale, burning fiercely and rolling forth clouds of sulphurous smoke. A n d now their reckonings showed them to be about half w a y between P o i n t Separation, where they had left Captain Franklin, and the m o u t h of the Coppermine. E v e r y t h i n g appeared to indicate a rapid journey to their objective, when they saw dead ahead the coast line again trending toward the north. A s often happens in such cases, the disappointment was so great that the men refused to believe their course was blocked, but proceeded to search the shore for a passage, hoping against hope that the land to the north of them might prove to be an island. In this, however, they were soon disillusioned, for the coast line, as far as they could see, interposed an unbroken barrier, and the inlets they passed were so shallow at their entrances as to preclude the possibility of a passage through them, even though no land

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could be seen across their bottoms. All haste was therefore made to reach the promontory that marked the eastern terminus of Franklin Bay, as the huge gulf was called. On the twenty-third of the month, after threading their way between Booth Islands and the mainland, the explorers landed and ascended a hill about seven hundred feet in height. Here they saw before them the end of the western shore of Franklin Bay, which Richardson named after Captain Parry and, erecting a cairn as Franklin had done at Foggy Island, they placed under it a letter for Parry, embodying the results of the work thus far. To round Cape Parry was a simple matter, and on the twenty-fourth Richardson encamped on Clapperton Island in Darnley Bay, just beyond the headland. Darnley Bay is bounded on its easterly side by Cape Lyon, and from this promontory to the bay at the mouth of the Coppermine the shore runs in an unbroken line in an east-southeasterly direction. After being detained for two days at Cape Lyon because of storms, Richardson and his men proceeded on their way down the coast. Following the shore, which now presented no unusual features, the commander saw to the north of him, on the fourth of August, a long strip of land of uneven appearance, which seemed to be either an archipelago or a shore line with deep indentations. To this he gave the name of Wollaston Land (it was in fact the land known today as Victoria Island), while the channel between it and the mainland he called Dolphin and Union Strait. On the next day they rounded Cape Bexley, as the northernmost point of the locality is called, and bowling along under a strong breeze, were soon at Point Cockburn. That night, after a run of thirty-nine miles, they pitched their camp on Chantry Island, situated well beyond the point. The following day a run of only about half this distance was made, owing to ice barriers, tidal currents and eddies. Œ282]]

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The coast now took a decided trend to the south, and as the party proceeded in this direction Wollaston Land gradually receded and finally sank below the horizon. On the seventh they rounded Cape Krusenstern, named after the prominent Russian hydrographer, at which point they found themselves entering George IV's Coronation Gulf, so called, as the reader will remember, by Franklin on his first expedition. From there they quickly reached Point Locker, where the coast turns abruptly toward the west, continuing in this direction as far as Cape Hearne. Now the travelers were on familiar ground and could set a course directly for the mouth of the Coppermine. On the way there they saw a magnificent bay lined by lofty cliffs, which they called Back's Inlet. On the eighth they came to the long-sought objective and pitched camp within a hundred yards of the spot where Franklin had stopped on his former journey. Here was the end of the exploratory part of the journey, for the rest of the voyage consisted merely of retracing the steps of Franklin up the Coppermine, and crossing a small stretch of country between that stream and Great Bear Lake. Leaving the seacoast on the ninth of August, the travelers ascended the Coppermine for about fifty miles. Here as the stream became too shallow for the Dolphin and the Union, they decided to abandon these boats, and continue the journey on foot, carrying with them the collapsible WalnutShell in case of an emergency. The stores were divided, a certain amount being allowed to each man, while the trifles which had been brought to give to the Eskimos were packed up and left behind with the tents. Thus relieved of a large share of their burden, the men were able to travel comfortably. They reached the rendezvous on the shores of Great Bear Lake on the eighteenth of the month. Here they were obliged to await the arrival of the interpreter, Beaulieu, who had been ordered to leave Fort Franklin on the sixth ( M

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in order to be at the meeting place in ample time to welcome Dr. Richardson. His failure to keep his appointment caused the physician some little anxiety, as lack of the proper means of transportation over the lake to the fort would necessitate a journey on foot of over three hundred miles, under difficult conditions. Fortunately, he did not have to wait long. On the twenty-fourth, as he was about to give up hope and make preparations for completing his journey as best he could, Beaulieu suddenly appeared, giving as an excuse for his tardiness that adverse winds and bad weather had delayed him. On the first of September the travelers arrived at Fort Franklin, where they were welcomed by Dease. What a contrast for Richardson was this experience to the first journey he had made under Franklin! The expedition had indeed been a gratifying one. Richardson had traced a hitherto unknown coast line for a distance of nine hundred miles, including the river channel from Point Separation to the sea, and had found an open passage for ships. We saw no ice that would have much impeded a ship [says Richardson], except between Sir George Clerk's Island and Cape Bexley, where it was heavy and closely packed. The appearance, however, of lanes of open water towards Wollaston Land, opposite to Cape Bexley, induced us to think that there might be a good passage for a ship on the outside of the ice, which lines the south shore, and which seems to have been packed into the indentations of the coast by the strong northwest winds that prevailed for some days.

Coronation Gulf offers suitable harbors, he goes on to say, as do numerous bays along the northern coast; but west of Cape Parry the shoals and sand bars would prevent a vessel of any size from finding suitable anchorage. He points out that there is a reassuring abundance of firewood and tertiary pitch coal along the shore, should an explorer ever attempt the passage with a steamer. Commenting on the phenomenon Q>84]]

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that caused the driftwood to be thrown up so high on the shore at the western entrance to Dolphin and Union Strait, he suggests that the force of the tides, which are very strong in this locality, must be due to a northwesterly wind driving the water from an open sea into the comparatively narrow strait, an action which forces the wood up on the shore. From this Richardson deduces that Wollaston Land must extend northward as far as Banks Land. Parry had found McClure Strait, between Banks Land and Melville Island choked with ice, a condition, according to Richardson, which is natural where a small body of water connects two larger ones. Such, in all probability, is also the case in Dolphin and Union Strait, if it is, as he believes, one of the principal openings in a large archipelago running north and south. The summer heat can break up ice fields, but not dissolve them, says Richardson; hence loose blocks of ice are driven by the winds and packed in straits and passages, only to be dislodged under certain favorable circumstances. Such circumstances are to be found in Dolphin and Union Strait rather than in McClure Strait; for while Parry admitted that there was something peculiar in the latter passage that made navigation through the ice impossible, the conditions in the former were greatly modified by a higher temperature and the currents which kept the ice constantly in motion. All things considered, the physician concludes, there is great hope of a passageway through Dolphin and Union Strait. As the season was now too far advanced for further travel, the explorers made arrangements to spend another winter at Fort Franklin. It passed slowly enough, as such winters usually did. Franklin himself wished to reach Fort Chipewyan as early in the coming season as possible, in order to procure provisions for the main party on their return home. He therefore started on the twentieth of Februfc* s i

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ary (1827), and made his way through the woods to Fort Simpson on the Mackenzie, leaving Captain Back with orders to proceed to Y o r k Factory when the ice had broken up, and there take ship for England. Meanwhile, Franklin reached Fort Simpson, where he spent a few days with Mr. Smith, its factor. In due course of time he came to Lake Athabasca, and entered Fort Chipewyan on the twelfth of April. From there, after a stay of six weeks, he went to Cumberland House, and then proceeded to Montreal. From Montreal he went to New York, where he took ship for England, arriving at Liverpool on the twenty-sixth of September. Captain Back landed at Portsmouth two weeks later. Franklin's experience did but strengthen his belief in the possibility of a passage. The surveys of his two expeditions covered the northern coast of America from longitude 1090 to i 4 9 H ° W . , while Beechey had covered it from Ice Cape eastward to 156 o , thus leaving an unexplored portion of but fifty leagues between this cape and Point Turnagain. A more important section was that between Point Turnagain and Fury and Hecla Strait; but Franklin believed, from what he had been able to learn from Parry and from the Eskimos he had encountered, that no "insurmountable obstacles" need be anticipated in this part of the sea. He therefore urged the completion of the task by a survey of this particular portion of the coast. In discussing the most favorable manner of approaching the problem, he was inclined to believe that Parry's opinion that the Northwest Passage should be sought from the Atlantic rather than from the Pacific side, was subject to some modification in the light of his (Franklin's) recent discoveries. The northwest gales, so frequently encountered by him, would indeed be favorable for an eastbound vessel, particularly as they spring up during the latter part of the season when the ice is in its most advantageous [[28 6]]

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position for navigation. Furthermore, an earlier explorer had observed an easterly current through Bering Strait, as had Parry in F u r y and Hecla Strait; and though Franklin himself had failed to notice it, his failure, he felt, might be attributable to the fact that he sailed close to the shore. H e recommended a late season for beginning a journey, in order to give the ice plenty of time to break up, and suggested sailing from I c y Cape after the middle of August, a date which would give the navigator ample time to reach a winter harbor somewhere east of Cape Bathurst. Y e t on the whole the outlook was not encouraging. Franklin had surveyed the coast westward from the mouth of the Mackenzie for a distance of 374 miles without finding a suitable harbor for ships of any size, while Richardson had performed the same task for 800 miles to the east of that stream with similar results, since he tells us he found no harbor until he reached Dolphin and Union Strait. T h e two men concurred in stating that the water they sailed over was shallow, the weather foggy, and the coast line strewn with rocky islets. Clearly to the unprejudiced mind the outlook for a practicable passage was not promising, at least in this locality. But at any rate there was a chance; and so long as hope existed there was no lack of men willing to risk their lives to solve the mystery.

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W

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H I L E Parry and Franklin were engaged in their epoch-making expeditions, Capt. John Ross was living quietly at home, still smarting under the dyspeptic criticisms of Secretary Barrow and the slanderous comments of a number of lesser lights, yet always looking forward to the time when he might again have a try at the Northwest Passage. He did not, it is true, feel that his reputation as a naval officer had been smirched by his management of his first voyage, for Lord Melville had assured him, when he had applied for a court-martial to inquire into his conduct, that he would never have been promoted to a captaincy so soon after his return, had the government felt the slightest qualm about his actions. Nevertheless, Ross wished to make a contribution to Arctic geography of sufficient importance to blot out from the minds of the public the unfortunate outcome of his journey to Baffin Bay. Ever after my first voyage [he wrote many years later], my mind was eagerly bent upon exploring the Arctic Seas, and no lapse of time could abate, no difficulties could subdue, my determination to accomplish this object; I was anxious to examine still further Prince Regent's Inlet, and I conceived a possibility of finding a passage by the route now taken by Sir John Franklin. Besides which, for ten years I had suffered continual obloquy from malignant anonymous writers, who availed themselves of my first voyage to traduce my professional character, and I looked forward to another as giving me the means of effectually silencing the tongue of slander. Immediately after Captain Parry's last return, I offered my services to the Admiralty, and submitted plans for another voyage to Lord Melville, and to the Duke of Clarence.1

The return of Captain Parry from his third voyage, and his departure for the discovery of the North Pole, appeared 1*9 i l

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to indicate that this explorer would not attempt another search for the Northwest Passage. Here, then, was Captain Ross's opportunity, and he therefore applied in 1827 to the Admiralty for a commission to undertake the work abandoned by Parry. But the government had had enough of this business, which, though it unquestionably led to important geographical discoveries, had by now convinced the authorities that the solution of the problem of the Northwest Passage would be of little value. N o t only did the Lords Commissioners turn down the proposition of Captain Ross, but they hinted that they would accord the same treatment to a similar request made by any other officer; in short they were no longer interested in the passage, and Ross was perforce obliged to seek financial backing elsewhere, as the sum of £3,000, which was all he could advance, was only a fraction of the total cost of an Arctic expedition. He therefore took his troubles to an old friend of his, named Felix Booth. Mr. Booth was a man of about fifty years of age who had acquired a considerable fortune in the management of Booth and Company, distillers, and was at this time a deputy lieutenant of Middlesex. His fortune gave him the means, and the liberal education he had received in his youth, the desire, to assist his friend in this public-spirited undertaking. But being a friend of Ross meant incurring the enmity of Secretary Barrow; hence we are not surprised to find the latter casting a slur upon Mr. Booth's motives in financing the expedition. I t is n o t [Barrow wrote years later], the business of a n y one to search into the real o b j e c t t h a t could h a v e induced a captain of the n a v y to t a k e c o m m a n d of a merchantship, w i t h o u t a commission, w i t h o u t official instructions, and w i t h o u t a n y a u t h o r i t y b u t such as is given to t h e skipper of a trading vessel; or to inquire into the m o t i v e s t h a t could a c t u a t e a w e a l t h y spirit-distiller to s u p p l y

£17,000, for the outfit of t h e said

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vessel. It may perhaps, at first, have worn the appearance, from the profound secrecy with which it was desired by the contributor to be conducted, of having originated in the prospect of being a promising speculation; and so indeed it turned out, notwithstanding the most discouraging outset, and the distressing circumstances that attended the execution, of the voyage; for it was entirely owing to the latter that the projector of it received a grant of money beyond his outlay, and the proprietor, if he may be so called, received for the money he advanced the grant of a distinguished honour [a baronetcy]; thus it is to be hoped, that the expectations of both have been satisfied; nor will they be considered by any one as misplaced—the one being a remuneration for his long sufferings and anxieties, the other for his disinterested and munificent generosity.2

The motives of Mr. Booth, however, cannot be traduced in this manner. The man was unquestionably actuated by a magnanimous purpose, and not by the expectation of being admitted to the order of knighthood, as is clearly shown by his testimony before the committee appointed by the House of Commons to inquire into the merits of Ross's request for compensation with which to cover his own disbursements and his services in the cause of exploration. I had known Captain Ross for some years [testified Mr. Booth], and I undertook it [the financing of the expedition] for the credit of the country, and to serve Captain Ross, thinking that he was slighted in his former expedition, and on account of ill-natured reports which were circulated anonymously against him. I conceived that there was a cloud hung over him, and he was anxious to have the opportunity to go out again.3

Booth, furthermore, stoutly maintained at this hearing that he had no expectation of receiving a share of any sum voted by Parliament to Captain Ross. The whole transaction is entirely above board. Captain Ross, smarting under the criticisms levied at him, had applied to the Admiralty for assistance in organizing an expedition, and learning from Lord Melville that the government was no longer interested in Arctic exploration, had applied to his friend for the 0>93l

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necessary funds, a request which Mr. Booth granted for the reasons he subsequently gave to the committee. Such generosity demands our praise, but need not excite our wonder; for history gives many examples of men who have spent money freely for the advancement of scientific knowledge. But the mere fact that a man might donate a large sum without thought of remuneration, seems to have been beyond the comprehension of Secretary Barrow. Perhaps the fact that the captain and the distiller were both knighted before the secretary, may have been the cause of much of the latter's acerbity. When Ross first applied to his friend for help, asking for about £10,000, Mr. Booth declined to give the requested assistance on the ground that since the government's offer of a reward of £20,000 to whoever discovered the passage was still outstanding, he did not wish it to appear that he was after this money. Here again we have convincing evidence of his disinterestedness. The following year Ross renewed his entreaties to the Admiralty, only to meet with the same reception; the government was definitely out of the business. He turned, then, to a London merchant, M r . Thornton, before whose eyes he dangled the reward of £20,000; but after a delay of three months he was met with a refusal. At this time, however, there came an unexpected solution of the problem. The government passed a bill on J u l y 15, 1828,* repealing the act of M a y 8, 1 8 1 8 , in which the reward for the discovery of a passage had been offered, together with proportionate rewards for proportionate discoveries. Mr. Booth, now that his scruples were removed, threw himself heartily into Ross's scheme, and contributed, all told, about £ 1 7 , 0 0 0 to the expedition. As steam navigation was then engrossing the attention of the leading naval authorities—Ross himself had compiled a work on the subject—the captain determined to secure a Œ294]]

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vessel having this means of propulsion as auxiliary to her sails. After examining several ships he obtained the Victory, a craft once employed as a packet between Liverpool and the Isle of Man. By raising her sides he increased her capacity to 150 tons, thus enabling her to carry sufficient supplies for her crew. He then procured from Mr. Booth an introduction to Messrs. Braithwaite and Ericsson, manufacturers, who had just patented a new type of boiler, and gave to them the business of equipping the Victory with suitable machinery. Ross also took a hand in designing the machines. It was the first time a steam-driven vessel had been used in Arctic exploration, and the outcome of the experiment was to prove disastrous, for the mechanism failed to function properly, and gave more trouble than it was worth, with the result that charges and countercharges of gross neglect were exchanged between Captain Ross and Mr. Braithwaite, in which each proved to his own satisfaction that the other was entirely at fault. 5 W e do not propose to enter into the merits of this controversy, as it involves too many technical points; but it is interesting to note that Braithwaite accuses Ross of being so secretive about his plans, even with the men designing his machinery, that he informed them that the vessel was to be used for warlike purposes. The Victory was now ready for sea. She was loaded with provisions and fuel for one thousand days, in addition to which the captain expected to be able to draw on the supplies left by Parry at Fury Beach. T o the Victory was joined a sixteen-ton vessel, which had already been on a northern voyage and to which the name of Krusenstern was given. Ross also secured two boats previously used by Captain Franklin. A whaler, named the John, was obtained to act as transport in carrying a portion of the supplies to Prince Regent Inlet, where she might find the stores left by the Fury and bring them back to Mr. Booth to reimburse him h 9 SÌ

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for the additional expense in connection with this auxiliary ship. Unfortunately, the crew of the John mutinied, and Ross was obliged to proceed without her. For second in command, Ross selected his nephew, Commander James C. Ross, and he also secured the services of William Thom who had been his purser on the Isabella. The entire ship's company numbered twenty-three persons. Once the preparations were completed, the Admiralty expressed entire satisfaction with the plan, and gave it their approval. Passports were given Ross, while the Treasury ordered the remission of duties on articles embarked in the Victory. Mr. Croker, in behalf of the Admiralty, wrote the commander the following encouraging letter, when the latter gave the honorable Board formal notice of his plans: "Having laid before my Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty your letter of this day's date [March 23, 1829], stating that you are about to undertake a voyage of discovery at the entire cost of yourself and others, and in the event of complete success in the discovery of a northwest passage, and subsequently falling in with His Majesty's Ships of War, or others belonging to foreign States, it would be desirable that you should possess a document to prove that your vessel is navigated, and your expedition undertaken with the approbation and good wishes of their Lordships, I have it in command to express their Lordships' approbation, and good wishes, relative to the expedition in question, and also their authority to state the same." 6 The twenty-third day of M a y , in the year 1829, was the day set for the departure of the expedition. Having paid his respects to the Admiralty, Ross went to Woolwich, where his vessel was stationed, and found a number of distinguished persons on board, among whom were Sir Byam Martin, Sir John Franklin, the Duke of Orleans and the Duke of Chartres, who had come to wish the explorer Godspeed. As Œ296]]

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further proof of its willingness to cooperate, the Admiralty granted leave of absence from the service to Chimham Thomas, a carpenter, and Thomas Abernethy, a gunner, men whom Ross desired to take with him. Mr. Booth arrived later, and at six o'clock in the afternoon the Victory started off, taking the Krusenstern in tow. The journey to Margate was made under power, and here the trouble began. The boilers leaked to such an extent that an additional pump for feeding them had to be brought into play; and as this was worked by hand, it caused great distress to the men detailed to keep it going, as the high temperature of the boiler room made the work exhausting. Fortunately, after rounding the North Foreland, a breeze sprang up, and the Victory, spreading her sails, was soon well on her way to the sea.7 Before sailing Captain Ross had carefully prepared his plan of campaign. He had reached the conclusion, after reading the literature on the subject, and consulting everyone who could have any knowledge of the question of the Northwest Passage, that if a passage could not be found somewhere between Cape Garry (which the reader will recall was the southernmost point on the western shore of Prince Regent Inlet seen by Captain Parry on his third voyage) and Point Turnagain, then no passage existed, at least in this southern locality; and this was the opinion of practically every authority with whom he had discussed the matter. Ross therefore determined to continue the work which Parry had been obliged to abandon when he lost the Fury, that is : to explore thoroughly the western shore of Prince Regent Inlet as far south as he could penetrate, in the hope of finding a channel that would lead him to the waters about Point Turnagain. The Victory had not proceeded many miles before the worthlessness of her machinery became evident; the boilers leaked continually, despite everything that could be done to bsil

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make them tight, and the engine proved so unsatisfactory that it was impossible to maintain a speed of more than three knots an hour, even with a steam pressure of forty-five pounds to the square inch. When the ship reached the Isle of Man, Ross sent to London and Liverpool for spare keys for the driving shaft—for the original key had been broken— and upon receipt of them managed to effect a temporary repair. The engine now showed signs of improvement, so that by making judicious use of it the Victory was able to outdistance several other ships in the neighborhood, when they were beating to windward; but scarcely had confidence been restored when the entire apparatus collapsed. With a loud crash the teeth driving the flywheel connected with a bellows used in keeping up a forced draft gave out, and shortly afterward the smaller of the two boilers blew out at the seams, deluging the fire with water and stopping the entire plant "as if it had been predetermined that not a single atom of all this machinery should be aught but a source of vexation, obstruction, and evil." Thus began, somewhat ingloriously, the first attempt at steam navigation in the Arctic, an attempt that resulted, as we have said, in bitter recriminations between the user of the machine and its manufacturer. Ross now put into Port Logan where he disembarked the small boiler which had been so badly damaged, and also landed an unfortunate seaman who had been seriously injured by the machinery. On leaving Port Logan, the Victory was taken to Loch Ryan where the trouble brewing on board the John came to a head. This vessel, which had been chartered, as we have said, for the purpose of conveying supplies for the expedition across the ocean, was in charge of Mr. Thom. The crew now refused to fulfill their engagement for the cruise, unless they were guaranteed the same shares in the venture, whether or not they returned with a Œ298]]

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full load of fish, for it had been planned to have the transport take advantage of the excellent fishing opportunities afforded in Baffin Bay in order to pay their expenses. This request was peremptorily refused. The majority of the crew thereupon promptly deserted the ship, leaving her with only eleven men on board, too few to handle her on a voyage across the Atlantic. As a result Ross decided that the only thing he could do under the circumstances was to send the John back to the agent from whom she had been chartered. This done, Captain Ross set sail. On the fifth of July the Victory entered Davis Strait. Then sailing up through Baffin Bay, she proceeded toward Lancaster Sound, now bowling forward under sail, now limping along at a knot or two an hour under the power supplied by the wretched engine and the leaky boiler, to the repair of which the crew had devoted themselves with a perseverance worthy of a better cause. At last, on the sixth of August, Cape Byam Martin reared its bold headland against the horizon, topped by a mantle of snow. The sight of the entrance to Lancaster Sound was viewed by Captain Ross with mixed feelings, for though he now rejoiced to think that he was about to enter upon the serious business of the undertaking, it brought back to his mind all the controversy and bitterness engendered by his first voyage to these regions. In his narrative which we are now studying, we find a lengthy reference to this unfortunate affair, in which he reiterates his contention that Parry did not, at the time when he first entered the sound, express a belief that there was an opening ahead. I can here [he says], on the very spot itself, where every recollection seems but that of yesterday, reassert with the most perfect confidence, that no officer then expressed any belief that there was a passage through this opening, or even suggested a hint to that effect. So far from this, I was led to infer, by the general remarks on board of my own ship, and by

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the expressions of those who considered that they had more especially a right to be consulted, that I had, according to their opinions, already proceeded, not merely far enough, but too far.

The journey up the sound for the first two days was a slow one; the winds were light and calms frequent, making it necessary to have recourse to the engine in order to make headway. Under ordinary circumstances a prolonged calm is only a tedious experience that does not necessarily irritate the tempers of experienced seamen; but in this case the circumstances were aggravated by the fact that the crew were obliged to devote their time to the contraption in the engine room. To do them justice, they attacked the job energetically, relieving their feelings from time to time by violent outbursts of profanity. That it was a frequent subject of execration [says Ross in speaking of the machine], I might guess, if I did not hear it; and if the constructor received his share also, no one could have expressed much surprise. It required constant and minute attention to persuade it to work at all; as even with all the goodwill of the workmen, my presence was forever required in the engine room, insomuch that I was scarcely allowed to sleep.

On the eleventh the explorers passed Cape York and turned into Prince Regent Inlet. The sea before them was clear of ice, and they had no difficulty in making their way to the place where the Fury had been abandoned. Here ice began to form, necessitating considerable skill to prevent the Victory from running afoul of it. On rounding Fury Point, Ross noticed a harbor apparently well sheltered and suitable for an anchorage. This place he named Adelaide Bay, as he entered it on the birthday of the Duchess of Clarence. It proved, however, to be a difficult undertaking to reach the harbor, as the wind and current were set against him, so he hit upon an ingenious method of making headway. The engine was unable to drive the ship forward with sufficient speed to make any progress against the elements, but [[300]]

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it was found that if it was shut off for about fifteen minutes enough steam would accumulate to drive the vessel for an equal length of time. To take advantage of this a line was passed ahead to an anchor, and when the engine was stopped the ship was hauled by hand. Thus alternately steaming and kedging, the Victory was at last brought into the harbor. Ross at once landed with his nephew, Thom and the surgeon, and proceeded to the spot where the supplies of the Fury had been deposited. The vessel itself was no longer there, having in all probability been broken up by the ice, and her timbers carried away to sea; but the supplies were found almost intact. The sails were dry and in excellent condition, while the contents of the tin canisters did not appear to have altered in quality in the slightest degree; on the contrary, they seemed impervious to the freezing temperature. The wine, spirits, cocoa, bread and flour were also found to have remained in sound condition despite the changes of the seasons. Such an opportunity for provisioning the party was not to be missed, so Ross loaded up the Victory with a quantity of supplies, which, taken together with what was already on board, would last her company two years and three months. Taking the boats to the beach, the crew piled in all they could stow; yet so abundant was the supply left by the Fury that the piles of canisters seemed scarcely to have diminished after the Victory's men had taken what they wanted. In addition to the provisions, ten tons of coal were taken aboard, together with carpenter's stores, anchors and cables; and a spare mizzen-topmast was selected to replace a boom that had been broken. When a favorable breeze sprang up, the Victory was set on a course to Cape Garry directly across Creswell Bay. Ross decided not to attempt to sail up this bay, though it presented the appearance of a favorable opening, as the current there was less strong than that leading southward, and the bay

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was fairly full of ice. He therefore decided to ignore this lead, at least for the present, in favor of a passage farther south. No difficulty was experienced in reaching Cape Garry; and here the explorers entered upon virgin territory. It had been believed by many persons that an open sea lay between Cape Garry and the continent; but if Ross shared this view, he was doomed to disappointment, for on rounding the point he saw the land on his starboard bow extending far to the southward, to all appearance in an unbroken line. Here it was that Ross missed his chance, for he was now approaching Bellot Strait, situated exactly on the seventy-second parallel. The discovery of this strait might have been of no practical value, for the channel is a narrow one frequently clogged with ice (though Captain McClintock managed to navigate it years later); but in the interest of accuracy it would have been a feather in Ross's cap could he have discovered here the northernmost point of the American continent. When rounding the cape that marks the entrance to this passage, Ross gazed to the westward, and saw in the distance a range of mountains rising beyond the land along which he had been sailing, while between these hills and the shore lay a low tract of land consisting of a series of flat grounds and islets. There was nothing here to indicate a break in the continuity of the coast. Selecting an island, to which he gave the name of Brown Island, after Mr. Booth's sister, Ross disembarked and proceeded to take formal possession of the country in the name of King George IV, raising the union jack with appropriate ceremonies. To the newly discovered land he gave the name of Boothia, in grateful appreciation of the assistance rendered him by his distinguished patron, while the inlet in which the island was located he called Brentford Bay. These formalities over, the Victory proceeded on her way south, continually harrassed by fogs, a condition which Œ302I

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proved particularly exasperating as the ship was now sailing in a region where the compasses were useless. In addition to this drawback, the party now began to experience trouble with the ice floes which were continually closing in on them or blocking their way. This was particularly noticeable when they attempted to sail close to the land, and especially annoying when the Victory was obliged to take the Krusenstern in tow to keep her clear of the ice. On reaching latitude 70o 48', Ross turned his vessel toward a good harbor (Port Logan) which he had uncovered from his quarter-deck, and dropping anchor proceeded to disembark in order to survey the neighborhood. Ascending a hill some three hundred feet in height, he was able to get an excellent view of the surrounding country, thus obtaining information about the locality which would otherwise have necessitated extensive excursions across the land. On returning to the ship, the explorers found that the ice had closed in on them, so that they were forced to remain in the harbor for two or three days. The time spent here was devoted to a vain attempt to get the engine in proper shape to permit them to take advantage of the first promising opening in the ice. It may well be wondered why so much trouble was taken about a machine that did not propel the ship faster than two miles an hour; but two miles an hour is better than standing still or drifting slowly backward, and in navigation of this kind it is necessary to take advantage of every opportunity to press forward. Many times a sailing vessel is unable to proceed through open water because of lack of wind, only to become caught between the floes when the breeze springs up. On the first of September the weather cleared, and the ice receded sufficiently to permit the Victory to escape and resume her voyage southward. Four days later Ross managed to get his ships clear of the ice pack and drive them to the land where they were made fast while a number of the Œ303I

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party went ashore. They had struck an excellent little harbor, called Elizabeth Harbour by Captain Ross, with plenty of water, a broad expanse, and sheltered from the sea by a narrow entrance. After being detained for a few days in this pleasant locality, the Victory took advantage of an opening in the ice floe to escape and continue her journey southward. Navigation was now becoming more difficult, for the season was drawing to an end, while the ice was closing in rapidly in a manner that threatened damage to the ship and her consort. In his narrative Ross gives a vivid description of the dangers which beset his vessel. It is unfortunate [he says], that no description can convey an idea of a scene of this nature: and, as to the pencil, it cannot represent motion, or noise. And to those who have not seen a northern ocean in winter—who have not seen it, I should say, in a winter's storm—the term ice, exciting but the recollection of what they only know at rest, in an inland lake or canal, conveys no ideas of what it is the fate of an Arctic navigator to witness and to feel. But let them remember that ice is stone; a floating rock in the stream, a promontory or an island when aground, not less solid than if it were a land of granite. Then let them imagine, if they can, these mountains of crystal hurled through a narrow strait by a rapid tide; meeting, as mountains in motion would meet, with the noise of thunder, breaking from each other's precipices huge fragments, or rending each other asunder, till, losing their former equilibrium, they fall over headlong, lifting the sea around in breakers, and whirling it in eddies; while the flatter fields of ice, forced against these masses, or against the rocks, by the wind and the stream, rise out of the sea till they fall back on themselves, adding to the indescribable commotion and noise which attend these occurrences. It is not a little, too, to know and to feel our utter helplessness in these cases. There is not a moment in which it can be conjectured what will happen in the next: there is not one which may not be the last; and yet that next moment may bring rescue and safety. I t is a strange, as it is an anxious position; and, if fearful, often giving no time for fear, so unexpected is every event, and so quick the transitions. If the noise, and the motion, and the hurry in every thing around, are distracting, if the attention is troubled to fix on anything amid such confusion, still must it be alive, that it may seize on the single moment of help or escape which may occur.

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As the month of September drew to a close, Ross concluded that there was no longer any hope of making progress that year, and began looking about for suitable winter quarters. He had now reached the seventieth parallel of latitude, which was to mark the end of exploration for 1829. Sending out a boat ahead to locate a harbor, or a place where the ship could be put up for the winter, he made preparations to follow her with the Victory when a proper anchorage had been found. The boat returned presently with news of a large harbor, to the southwest of which was an island to which the ship could be secured. Ross at once took the Victory to the island and made her fast to two icebergs. To the harbor he gave the name of Felix Harbour, while he called the island after his surgeon, M'Diarmid. The captain, in thus going into winter quarters, did so because he felt that in navigating these uncharted seas everything should give way to the safety of the ship; and he even blamed himself for not having acted with proper restraint on several occasions because of his overanxiety to press forward. It was advisable also, he believed, to take up a position in the ice pack when no harbor was available, especially when near land, as this proceeding was much safer than pushing continually through open spaces, unless such progress could be made without running any risk. This policy Ross is careful to impress upon the mind of the reader, as it is contrary to the usually accepted theory; it is in fact very different from the course advocated by Captain Parry. The Victory being secured, Ross decided to rid himself once and for all of his cumbersome engine, to the great relief of the crew; and doubtless the reader will be thankful to hear no more about it. Thus far it had certainly given more trouble than it was worth, but as it had been considered the principal motive power of the ship, when the plans were originally made, the sail area had been cut down, so that Œ305I

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the spread of canvas was inadequate in light breezes. Y e t despite all this, Ross determined that the Victory should be henceforward a sailing vessel simply; the apparatus was dismantled, the boilers taken apart, and on the twentieth of October, a red-letter d a y for the entire ship's company, it was taken ashore and carried to its last resting place. Speaking with a feeling of intense relief, Ross says: T h e last of the engine was hoisted o u t : m a y I not say that there was not one of us who did not hail this event with pleasure. W e could not even look at its fragments without recollecting what it ought to have been, and w h a t it proved to b e ; nor without reflections, and those not kind ones on its maker, when we remembered the endless and ever recurring trials of our patience which it had caused, the never ceasing labor of the men in its reparation, the ever renewed hopes, producing ever new disappointments, and the loss of temper, to most of us, I fear, of which it had been the fertile cause. T h e enemy, however, was at last at our feet; and while it was incumbent on us to store it up, though it would in reality be difficult to say w h y , were it not from that habit, or feeling, which rebels against absolute wastefulness, I believe there was not one present who ever again wished to see, even its minutest fragment.

T h e progress made during this the first season of navigation was very gratifying to Captain Ross. He had succeeded in penetrating Prince Regent Inlet to a point over 160 miles from the spot where Parry had been obliged to turn back, and according to his computation he was well on his w a y to Point Turnagain. It was therefore with a feeling of satisfaction at the outcome of his work thus far that he gave orders to the crew to make preparations for the winter. In carrying out these arrangements, Ross of course had the advantage of the experiences of Parry, which he followed fairly closely. T h e upper deck was roofed over with canvas, while the deck itself was covered with a heavy layer of snow, which soon changed to ice. Over this was spread a covering of sand. A bank of snow was then piled up around the ship high enough to reach the gunwale at its junction with the roof, thus form[[306]]

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ing a complete shelter from winds and excessive cold. A n ingenious device was then rigged up to draw out the moisture from the living quarters of the crew. Openings were made in the deck above the cooking ovens, and over these stoves were placed iron tanks with their openings downward to catch the steam and condense it, while the apartment was heated by copper flues running from the ovens. T h u s , by the elimination of that excessive moisture which had been, as the reader will recall, such a source of constant trouble in P a r r y ' s vessels, it was found possible to keep the crew's living quarters warm and comfortable with an inside temperature of between 40 o and 50o above zero. It must be understood, of course, that the seamen were at all times warmly clothed. T o while away the long winter months, always a trying time to members of an Arctic expedition, a system of routine was inaugurated, differing little in principle from that adopted on Parry's vessels under similar circumstances. T h e d a y was portioned off into various periods at which certain tasks were undertaken, thus providing a regularity so necessary to the maintenance of discipline. T h e winter passed quietly enough, enlivened by the presence of a band of Eskimos who had come from the south and settled in the vicinity of the ship. From these savages Ross learned something of the geography of the regions beyond him. T h e y had come from a place called Akkoolee at the southern extremity of the Gulf of Boothia, or more strictly speaking, Committee B a y , as it is known at present, and were well acquainted with Repulse B a y , Winter Island and Igloolik, places explored by Parry on his second voyage. Asked to draw a chart of the southern regions they traced the outline of the coast off which Ross was then anchored, showing that it terminated in a junction with the eastern shore of the gulf, thus blocking any possibility of a passage in that direction. In order to obtain still further information

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on this subject, Commander J. C . Ross was dispatched on an expedition to a village about thirty miles southward, and returned with the opinion that the data given by the Eskimos were substantially correct. H e also brought back an account of a salt-water stream which always flowed to the eastward, and this, Ross believed, was worthy of investigation. A series of expeditions was now organized under C o m mander J. C . Ross. Starting out on the fifth of April (1830) on the first of these voyages with two Englishmen and two native guides, he proceeded along the shore in a southwesterly direction toward Boothia Isthmus. When the party stopped, Ross engaged the Eskimos in conversation and learned from them of the presence of a great ocean to the westward. T h e y also spoke of an island, which they called Oo-geoo-lik, situated m a n y days' j o u r n e y over this ocean, where the tribes were accustomed to meet in summer. Ross, despite his efforts, was unable to make his guides understand that he wished to be led to this sea, and was, therefore, obliged, instead, to listen to their accounts of various incidents that had arrested their notice. Proceeding on their w a y , the party presently came, after crossing Boothia Isthmus, to a salt-water inlet, and from there struck directly inland, ascending a river and passing a number of small lakes, until they came to the shores of a great lake called Nei-tyel-le, which was, in truth, an arm of the western sea. On the return journey Ross ascended a cliff (Cape Isabella) with one of his guides, who from this point of vantage pointed with a sweep of his arm to the quarter between the northwest and the southwest, saying that the sea in this direction was open during the summer. Turning then to the south, he explained that the land on which he stood ran in an unbroken line to Repulse B a y , shutting off all access to the western sea from the south. From this Ross concluded, rightly enough, that the water on which he was gazing was, Œ308D

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indeed, the western ocean, that the land on which he stood was part of the American continent, and that the Victory, in order to reach the western sea, would have to seek a passage to the north and not to the south. The explorers reached the ship on the tenth of April, after a brief but highly instructive journey. T h e following week the commander decided to make another voyage. H e had now discovered the western sea on the other side of the isthmus, and as the natives had told him of a place j u s t south of the Victory's harbor, called Shag-a-voke, where a current came from the westward through a narrow strait, he hoped to find there some possibility of a passage, though the Eskimos assured him that the land to the south of them was continuous. Taking with him a guide, he started for this place on the twenty-first. The journey proved to be a very short one, but it enabled Ross to prove that Shag-a-voke was no strait, but a long, narrow inlet, down which rushed a current during the summer, formed by the waters of the melting snows. On returning from this excursion, he was convinced of the absence of any passage to a western sea south of the seventieth parallel, and concluded that his next move must be the examination of the land to the north of him, in the hope of finding a passage there which might have been overlooked on the southward voyage during the previous year; then, if such a strait were found, the Victory could proceed there with little loss of time when the season for navigation finally opened, for it was now decided to abandon any further attempts to penetrate farther to the south. In accordance with this plan, J . C. Ross started northward with his party on the twenty-seventh, hugging the coast until he came to a group of Eskimo huts, where, after some difficulty, he managed to procure guides. The party traveled by dog sledges, and in this manner were able to cover the h°9Ì

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ground with less fatigue than if they had proceeded on foot carrying their packs. Marching thus, Ross examined the various inlets along the coast, ever on the alert for a possible opening. The traveling was difficult. Numerous storms raged, compelling the explorers to seek refuge in improvised shelters. The supply of food presently diminished; but fortunately Ross was able to bring down a musk ox with his musket, and the Eskimos, who knew no moderation under these circumstances, spent several hours gorging themselves with the meat. Gluttony, however, seemed to have no ill effects on them, for the following day they were on their feet ready to start. After traveling for two hours over rough country, the party came to a lake (Lake Owen), bounded by five hills intersected by ravines which fed the lake with their melting snows. Ascending one of these hills, Ross saw far to the north an inlet across which was a cape called the Old Man of Hoy by Captain Ross when he passed it on his journey southward. This place the commander believed might be the opening of a passage of which the Eskimos had spoken, although he had found it difficult to understand their exact meaning when discussing geographical subjects with them. But the natives assured him that the inlet in question was nothing but a bay, and that the strait must be sought farther to the north, an assertion which caused him to suspect that the passage they had in mind was none other than Barrow Strait. The commander, as he himself tells us, would have liked to examine thoroughly the inlet in the offing, but the great distance he would have had to traverse in order to accomplish this task caused him to postpone it until some future time. To offset this, he attempted to gain some satisfaction for his curiosity by descending to the seashore and proceeding to a place just north of Elizabeth Harbour, but the weather was too thick for him to make observations, and he was perforce obliged to return to his Œ310]]

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companions little wiser than before. It was now high time to return to the ship, as a longer delay might cause anxiety and lead the captain to send out a relief expedition, so Ross set his face to the south, and in due course of time reached the Victory in Felix Harbour. Captain Ross, on hearing his nephew's report, drew a somewhat curious conclusion. J. C. Ross had reached an inlet a trifle to the north of Elizabeth Harbour at about latitude 70 o 40', and from this the captain reasoned that the passage between the two seas lay in this locality, Cape Manson, near-by, being in his opinion the northeastern point of the American continent. This conclusion, needless to say, was entirely erroneous. Shortly after his return from the journey, J. C. Ross went forth on another excursion, this time to the westward across the Isthmus of Boothia, as Captain Ross named the land separating the water he had navigated from the western sea, covering during the first part of his march the same territory he had traversed on his first journey. Ross and his party left the ship on the seventeenth of M a y , accompanied by the surgeon, M'Diarmid, and went as far as Graham's Valley, a valley that extends almost across the isthmus. After leaving a number of his men at the first encampment, as they were exhausted by their exertions, he proceeded to the large Middle Lake, which extends along the western portion of the valley, and from there he quickly reached the sea at the head of a gulf which he called Spence Bay. On arriving here he determined to go to Cape Isabella, where he could obtain a commanding view of the surrounding territory and thus decide upon his line of march. From the summit of Cape Isabella, which rises abruptly five hundred feet above the sea, Ross gazed out over the ice and saw the coast on which he was standing continuing indefinitely westward, while the opposite shore turned to the south. From this he concluded that he would find the h

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entrance to an inlet, called by the natives Ik-ke-rush-yuk, by keeping along the northern shore. Pursuing his route, therefore, in a westerly direction for about ten miles he found that the coast presently took a sudden turn to the north. As the party proceeded, they examined the bays they came to, but found them shallow and not at all like the inlet in question. When they stopped to camp at four o'clock in the morning, Ross ascended a neighboring cliff, and looking toward the northwest saw a huge bay which he surmised to be the opening to the Polar Sea which he was seeking. Going ahead with a companion to examine the place, he came presently to the head of the bay, where he found a river flowing into it over a rapid. From the top of a neighboring hill, about a thousand feet high, he saw to the northeast a chain of lakes which drained into the bay before him through the river. From there he proceeded still farther along the coast until the sight of the sea covered with hummocks of ice apprised him of the fact that he had reached the strait leading to the Polar ocean. It was now time for the explorers to betake themselves to the shore opposite Cape Isabella to see if they could find a more promising lead, and could supplement the knowledge they had just gained. On finding a smooth tract of ice, Ross led his men over it to the land ahead of him, which proved upon closer inspection to be a large island. To this he gave the name of Matty Island. The members of the party were by now thoroughly tired; but struggling along as best they could, they managed to cross from the island to the mainland south of it in three hours, reaching a point to which they gave the name of Cape Abernethy. Here they turned up the coast, marching in a northwesterly direction, and passing the various inlets that indented the shore. These inlets, whose bottoms could not be distinguished in the glare of ice and snow that hung over the landscape, gave rise to doubts in Œ312]]

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Ross's mind as to the nature of the coast line he was skirting. Were they actually bays, or were the headlands between them islands detached from the mainland? This doubt prevented the commander from caching a part of his supplies to lighten his burden on the outward j o u r n e y ; for if the land he saw were merely an archipelago, he would never find his caches, should he return by the true coast line. A f t e r traveling for several days, the party came to a large gulf to which the name of P o r t P a r r y was given. T h e n continuing still in the same direction, they reached at last the northern extremity of the coast (Cape Felix) where it turns abruptly and swings down in a southwesterly direction. T h e vast extent of the ocean now spread before him led the commander to the rightful conclusion that he had reached the northern point of that part of the continent which trends toward Point Turnagain. Indeed the latitude of the place which he ascertained to be 69 o 3α' 49", is farther north than Turnagain, and farther north than any point in between the two, though the intervening coast line is not a straight line like the shore between the Mackenzie and the Coppermine, but a coast of pronounced sinuosities with deep gulfs and prominent headlands. Unaware of this, Ross was all the more anxious to complete his journey to Point Turnagain, for he computed the distance from C a p e Felix to this point to be the same as the mileage he had already traversed. Unfortunately, he could not aspire to make this crowning discovery at present; he had brought but three weeks' provisions, of which one half had already been used, so there was nothing for him to do but to retrace his steps. B u t before returning, he decided to give his men a day's rest, while he, together with his mate, proceeded westward for a short distance to see how the land lay. Arriving toward midnight at a point which was to mark his farthest west, he erected a cairn of stones, beneath which he placed an account of his [[313]]

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journey thus far, naming the place Victory Point, while he gave to a promontory he saw in the distance the name of Point Franklin. Victory Point he computed as being distant 222 miles from Point Turnagain. The return journey began on the last day of M a y , and after four days of difficult marching, during which the dogs drawing the sledges became exhausted, the party reached Port Parry. From there they continued along the coast, hugging the shore of the mainland. It was a slow and tedious march, for the men were now weak from hunger, and it was the sixth of June before they came in sight of Cape Isabella, looming up across the entrance of Spence Bay. The sight of the well-known landmark, which Ross says they welcomed as an old friend, aroused the drooping spirits of the party, and inspired them with a feeling of confidence that their journey was nearing its end. T w o days later they reached the head of the bay, where they were met by a party of Eskimos, who led them to a cairn of stones where Ross found a note from his uncle indicating a spot where a supply of provisions had been left for the returning explorers. T o his grief he found, however, that the natives had consumed the bulk of the food, leaving but eight pounds of meat and some bread, most of which was now useless. T o make up for this, the Eskimos supplied their English guests with some fresh meat. A few days were spent at this place recuperating from the fatigues of the journey, before the men resumed their return march. On the tenth of June the entire party started back, and three days later stepped on board the Victory. As it was now the middle of June, preparations were begun for getting the ship under way. As the weather became milder, the spirits of the men rose at the thought of warm breezes and the open sea. The ice was cut away from the vessel, the rigging overhauled, and the sails bent on the spars. But June passed and July came without giving hope of an [[314]]

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early start. T h e weather now became almost hot, the thermometer rising to 70 o , while swarms of mosquitoes, those pests of the Arctic summer, began their depredations on the crew. A t this time the ship's company were virtually prisoners; the ice had not yet melted sufficiently to allow them to get the ship out of the harbor, while the melting snow and ice made the land unfit for traveling. As the month of J u l y wore on, the condition of the sea showed no signs of change. From the top of the highest hill, Ross could get no glimpse of an open water into which he might work his vessel. The first of August brought no promise of release and, although the ice was ready to break up, should a strong southerly gale arise, it had as yet given no indication of moving.Fortunately there was enough work to be done to keep the men busy and to prevent them from brooding over their long delay. Their health had also improved, thanks to the warmth and an abundant supply of fish which was now obtained; as Ross puts it: " t h e first salmon of the summer were a medicine which all the drugs in the ship could not replace." As we scan Ross's journal for August, we find that day after day passed without any sign of relief. Occasionally a breeze sprang up that put the ice in motion, but there was never a sufficient alteration in the state of affairs to permit the explorers to extricate their ship from the harbor. I t had been a month of disappointment, each day bringing hopes that were never realized. The men spent their time in shooting and fishing, occupations that gave them fresh food and kept their minds occupied. September opened in an unpromising manner. T h e temperature dropped perceptibly and a violent snowstorm covered the landscape with its wintry mantle. It was the first snow since the preceding winter, and it was accompanied by a tremendous gale of wind from the northwest that drove the ice before it southward, packing it up into great masses. When the wind died down, attempts Œ315I

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were made to warp the Victory over the bar at the mouth of the harbor, only to have her caught fast aground at low water. For two weeks the ship lay stranded near this shallow spot; then, as she was moved ahead foot by foot into deeper water, she was halted by the ice that gathered closely about her hull. At the end of this time a slight change occurred; the ice finally parted, and the ship was hove out into an open lane. At last, on the seventeenth of September, sails were set, and the Victory was under way once more. One can imagine the joy that arose in every breast when the ship, freed from her eleven months' imprisonment, finally shook herself loose and bounded over the waves. W h a t seaman [says Ross], could feel this as we did, when this creature, which used to carry us buoyantly over the ocean, had been during an entire year immovable as the ice and the rocks around it, helpless, disobedient, dead? It seemed to have revived again to a new life; it once more obeyed us, did whatever we desired; and in addition to all, we too were free. It was the first burst of enjoyment on the recovery of our liberty; but we were not long in finding, as other pursuers of other liberty have found, that it was a freedom which was to bring us no happiness.

Thus freed from her fetters, the Victory sailed gaily forward for three miles, when she was again caught fast by the ice, taking shelter under two bergs at the mouth of the harbor. The thermometer now began to fall, new ice formed, and the ship was hemmed in as closely as ever. Ross soon perceived the true drift of the situation, and thus sums it up in his narrative: There was no longer, therefore, occasion either to hope or fear: and there was an end to all anxiety at least. T h e agitation under which we had so long laboured had subsided into the repose of absolute certainty. Our winter prison was before us; and all that we had now to do, was to reach it, set up our amphibious house, and, with one foot on sea and one on shore, "take patience to ourselves." Œ3I6J]

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And indeed the work of getting the Victory into suitable quarters was one to try the patience of any group of men. Ross selected the harbor just north of the one he had quitted, giving it the name of Sheriff Harbour; and here he established his winter quarters. Bringing up his ship and the little Krusenstern, he cut away huge blocks of ice, and warped the vessel into the harbor at the rate of thirty, forty or fifty feet a day. During the month of October she advanced but 850 feet, when, unable to drag her any farther, Ross determined to halt and establish winter quarters. The following spring (1831) occurred what may be regarded as the principal achievement of the expedition: the discovery of the Magnetic Pole by J . C. Ross. According to the plan of the undertaking, the two Rosses were to start out together, each with six men and a sledge, and cross the peninsula to the western ocean. There the commander was to turn northward along the coast, while the captain returned by the shortest possible route for additional supplies which he was to transport to the western coast for his nephew. The parties left the Victory on the sixteenth of May, accompanied by their Eskimo guides. They crossed the surface of Thorn's Bay, a little inlet not far from the ship, and entered the narrow defile of the Saumarez River. To their surprise they found that this stream did not freeze in the winter, but flowed down from a spring-fed lake situated a mile above its mouth. Ascending the river, the explorers reached the lake and proceeded slowly along its western side, past deserted Eskimo huts and precipitous cliffs, until after a journey of three days they came to its eastern terminus. Ross called the lake, Krusenstern. Leaving this body of water, they continued on their way, passing across other goodsized, though smaller, lakes, which received the names of Jekyll and Hanstein, and encamped on the shores of the latter. From there they crossed a ridge and found a river Œ317I

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descending to the western sea, which they named the Josephine, after the Crown Princess of Sweden. Tracing this stream to its mouth, they presently discovered that it flowed into a bay which Commander Ross had noticed when he pushed his explorations beyond Cape Isabella the previous year. I t was the twenty-seventh of the month when the parties reached the sea. Ross now divided his men into two detachments, one of which, commanded by his nephew, was to proceed northward, while he himself led the other back to the ship b y w a y of a more southerly route through Shag-a-voke. It m a y be said here that Ross was particularly interested in Shag-a-voke, as the valley leading to it formed an excellent land communication between the two seas, and might have served, had it been located in more temperate climes, as the bed of a canal constructed to unite the two oceans. I t was only thirteen feet above the level of the western sea. Meanwhile, Commander Ross set out on his search for the Magnetic Pole. T h e discovery of this interesting point on the earth's surface was an achievement which the earlier explorers had hoped to accomplish. Both Parry and Franklin had made calculations, based upon the variation of their compasses and the dip of their needles, that had enabled them to compute the approximate location of the Pole with w h a t proved to be a fair degree of accuracy. Ross, in starting on his undertaking, did not, therefore, strike out blindly in quest of his objective, but directed his steps towards the locality where he knew it would be found. Its location was supposed to be in latitude 70 o Ν . and longitude 98 o 30' W . Ross himself had been within ten miles of this spot on his previous journey; but on that occasion he did not have with him the necessary instruments for verifying the accuracy of the supposed location. During the winter he had prepared for his present task by carrying on a series of observations

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which he had continued up to the d a y of leaving the ship, a work that showed him clearly enough j u s t where to direct his steps. A f t e r parting company with his uncle, the commander proceeded northward for a distance of ten miles, when he was forced to pitch camp because of the snow-blindness that afflicted several members of his party. Here in latitude 69 o 4 3 ' 45" and longitude 94 o 54' 23", the dip was found to be 89 o 4 1 ' and the horizontal needle pointed to 57 o north of west. From this camp the explorers continued their march, picking their w a y along the coast in a northwesterly direction. Progress was necessarily slow, as a strong northerly wind blew in the faces of the travelers in zero weather, and Ross wished to proceed in a leisurely manner in order to examine carefully the geographical and geological features of the territory he traversed, instead of pushing forward at once to his objective. T h e party marched during the night and rested in the daytime, covering about twelve miles each night. On the last day of the month Ross calculated his position as being fourteen miles from the Pole. In order to hasten his arrival there, he cached the greater part of his baggage, and now set forth, marching rapidly in the expectation of reaching the Pole at eight o'clock on the following morning. T h e land he traversed was low near the coast, but rose to a height of about sixty feet within a mile of the shore. Unfortunately, it showed no distinguishing mark, such as a prominent headland, which could act as a monument for a spot of such importance as the N o r t h Magnetic Pole. For here, indeed, was a spot unique in the northern hemisphere, the lurking place of those strange forces that attract the magnetic needle, a place which, in a more superstitious age, would have been regarded as the abode of demons. Pitching camp, Ross found that the dipping needle registered 89o 59', or within one minute of the vertical position that marked the Œ319]]

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Pole. This he considered accurate enough for all practical purposes; and he proceeded to take possession of the territory in the name of his sovereign, unfurling the union j a c k on the spot. A s was customary in such cases, a canister containing a record of the occasion was buried under a cairn of stones. " H a d it [the cairn] been a pyramid as large as that of Cheops," says the commander, " I am not quite sure that it would have done more than satisfy our ambition, under the feelings of that exciting d a y . " Ross fixed the exact location of the Pole at latitude 70 5' 17", longitude 96 o 46' 45". T h e Magnetic Pole, unlike the terrestrial one, is not a geometrical point, but a small area in which the dipping needle forms an angle of ninety degrees with the horizontal plane. T h i s area, moreover, moves slowly in the course of years and must be rediscovered, so to speak, from time to time in order to establish its exact position. N i n e t y years after its first discovery, it was found to have moved northward about forty-five minutes of latitude and a trifle to the east of the spot where it was located by Commander Ross. T o trace the return journey would be something of an anticlimax, especially as the explorers traveled over now familiar territory. Suffice it to say that Ross after exploring the shore line for some twelve miles north of the Pole, a survey that led him to the conclusion that the coast extended in the same general direction as far north as C a p e Walker 8 , on Russell Island, in latitude 74 o 15', returned to the ship, arriving there on the thirteenth of June, after an absence of four weeks. Preparations were now hurried rapidly forward to make the ship ready for the coming season, for the officers and men were becoming impatient to reach England before the end of the year. B u t fate was again against them; the month of July passed, and the ice still held firm, offering no promise of a passage to the open sea. N o r did A u g u s t prove any better.

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Ross's narrative for these two months contains but a few brief notices of unimportant incidents and some remarks about the inclemency of the weather. A feeling of depression appears to have settled on the men, who had already, during the two winters spent in this inhospitable land, exhausted the novelties which it had at first afforded. The tedium had become such that, as Ross tells us, the men even found relief from the everlasting computation of data concerning the tides, winds and ice, and the boredom of their own thoughts, in the society of the filthy Eskimos, whose disgusting habits would have repelled them under ordinary circumstances. True, they had not suffered loss of life or limb, but they had been obliged to undergo those petty privations and minor illnesses which are bound to crop out among men engaged in such undertakings. Moreover, the feeling of disappointed hopes, the longing for home and friends, and the eternal monotony of the scene before them, were sufficient to dishearten the most stoical. Yet [says Ross], was there a pain even beyond all this; and that grievance seldom ceased. We were weary for want of occupation, for want of variety, for want of means of mental exertion, for want of thought, and (why should I not say it?) for want of society. To-day was as yesterday, and as was to-day, so would be to-morrow: while if there was no variety, as no hope of better, is it wonderful that even the visits of barbarians were welcome, or can anything more strongly show the nature of our pleasures, than the confession that these were delightful; even as the society of London might be amid the business of London r

Toward the end of August a slight change took place. A strong wind blowing from the westward had succeeded in forcing an opening in the ice. Sail was made immediately; but unfortunately the mizzen boom was carried away and a portion of the rudder damaged before any progress could be made. A day was taken to repair these mishaps; then the ship set forth again on her journey. It was, however, impossible to make any real progress, for contrary winds and ice

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held the Victory back, so that at the end of three days of warping and hauling Ross was glad to steer her into Victoria Harbour, a small bay located about four miles from where he had started. Y e t , despite this contretemps, Ross was not entirely discouraged, for he reflected that he could have gotten away from his present position the year before as late as the fourth of October, and much might happen in 1831 before that date. But as September wore on, the scene remained unchanged; the temperature was low, snowstorms covered the land, and the ice kept a position that promised no relief. Captain Ross gives us a vivid impression of the effect which this dreary landscape of ice and snow had even on those who had been lured into the North by the novel beauty of its scenery. W h o more than I has admired the glaciers of the extreme north [he cries out], who more has loved to contemplate the icebergs sailing from the Pole before the tide and the gale, floating along the ocean, through calm and through storm, like castles and towers and mountains, gorgeous in colouring, and magnificent, if often capricious, in form; and have I too not sought amid the crashing and the splitting and the thundering roarings of a sea of moving mountains, for the sublime, and felt that nature could do no more? In all this there has been beauty, horror, danger, everything that could excite; they would have excited a poet even to the verge of madness. B u t to see, to have seen, ice and snow, to have felt snow and ice for ever, and nothing for ever but snow and ice, during all the months of a year, to have seen and felt but uninterrupted and unceasing ice and snow during all the months of four years, this it is that has made the sight of those most chilling and wearisome objects an evil which is still one in recollection, as if the remembrance would never cease.

The month of September passed in vain attempts to free the Victory from her position; but when the first of October arrived the explorers realized that they were caught hard and fast for another winter. They therefore, with what resignation they could muster, prepared to spend another dreary Arctic winter in the ice. Yet it was impossible for

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these men, especially the crew, who were looking forward to receiving their three years' wages on returning to England, not to feel a severe depression of the spirits, now that this hope had been snatched from them, and they were forced to realize the necessity of spending another winter in these desolate wastes where "even the capture of an Arctic mouse was an e v e n t . " T h e sun went down and night came on, covering the earth with a cloak of darkness, relieved only b y the glories of the aurora borealis. T h e thermometer fell, the fierce northern gales sprang up, and the explorers sought refuge within the protecting hull of their ship. T h u s the winter passed with scarcely an event worth recording—as winters had passed before. D u r i n g this period of confinement, Ross determined to abandon his vessel to her fate as soon as spring came, and endeavor to lead his men over land and sea by sledges and boats to some point where they could meet the whalers of Baffin B a y . H e had now become convinced by his experiences that the chances of extricating his ship from her present position during the coming season were against him, and as provisions were getting low it would soon be necessary to reach the stores left cached on F u r y Beach. T r u e , in the year 1829, the vessel had been able to penetrate to her present locality with little difficulty; and though the conditions of that year had not been repeated in the two subsequent seasons, it was reasonable to suppose that eventually the sea would open up as it had when Ross first entered the inlet; but it was inadvisable, not to say impossible, to wait any longer in the hope that the coming season would be propitious. It was Ross's plan to advance with his boats, drawn on sledges, to a certain spot, carrying a stock of provisions which he would cache there in order to proceed more rapidly. From this spot he would go to F u r y Beach, where he Œ323I

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could obtain supplies, and take possession of the F u r y ' s boats with which he could continue by sea. A n advance party of fourteen men started on April 23, 1832, marching northward over the peninsula that formed the harbor, for a distance of five miles to the sea beyond, where they found their boats, which had already been transported there for them. T h e first night was spent in a snow house with the thermometer registering 47 degrees below the freezing point. T h e following day the journey was resumed. On reaching the seashore, after several hours of rough going, they found the traveling from there on much easier; and after carrying one of the boats to a spot seven miles above a place they called North Point, they returned to the huts they had occupied the previous night. T h e next d a y the second boat was transported to the place where the first had been deposited, and here the party encamped. T w o days later the explorers started again, this time making their w a y over the ice covering the sea, where traveling was comparatively easy. B u t this came at last to an end, and they were obliged to seek the shore. Here with great difficulty they dragged the sledges over three hills, and pitched camp at a spot near the cape where they had been detained in September, 1829. A t this place the boats were secured, and the party returned to the ships. On this journey the travelers had covered n o miles going back and forth, although they had advanced but 18 from the starting point. Another party, with additional sledges and equipment, was now ready to go forward, and was at once dispatched with extra supplies. T h e method of conveying stores which Ross adopted, was, as the reader can see, a tedious one, though it was the only method by which a cargo of any size could be transported with the limited facilities at his command. A f t e r five weeks of marching and countermarching, Ross was ready for the final departure from the ship. All instruments and supi n i

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plies which could not be taken, were brought ashore and stored in a place of safety where they could be found in case it became necessary to return. The colors were nailed to the masthead. Then with every man ashore, a parting glass was drunk to the gallant Victory. It was the first vessel [says her commander], that I had ever been obliged to abandon, after having served in thirty-six, during a period of fortytwo years. It was like the last parting with an old friend; and I did not pass the point where she ceased to be visible without stopping to take a sketch of this melacholy desert, rendered more melancholy by the solitary abandoned, helpless home of our past years, fixed in immovable ice, till time should perform on her his usual work.

Thus was the Victory abandoned on May 29, 1832. On reaching the spot where the boats had been left, Ross proposed to carry them to Elizabeth Harbour with food for six weeks, thence to proceed to latitude 71 0 where he would rest and send a detachment to inspect the state of affairs at Fury Beach. The conditions of travel had now become worse, so bad in fact as to invite incipient mutiny. Before reaching Elizabeth Harbour, the men requested permission to abandon their boats and provisions and make a dash for Fury Beach; but Ross, seeing the folly of such a proceeding, refused to listen to a proposal of this nature, and ordered them to proceed, "in a manner not easily misunderstood." By the eighth of June everything had been concentrated at Elizabeth Harbour. Here a survey of the situation was made, and, as it was found impossible to proceed by water, the boats were left behind, and Ross decided to continue with his men for 20 or 30 miles, sending a party on ahead of the main body to examine the supplies at Fury Beach and bring back a report of conditions there. This detachment was, as one would naturally suppose, placed under the command of the younger Ross, with orders to proceed ahead, leaving a note at every halting place, while the captain followed with

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the main division at such a rate of speed as to bring his men forward 70 miles by the time the commander's party had reached its destination 150 miles ahead. T h e scheme worked out much as Ross had planned it. J. C. Ross arrived at Fury Beach in due time. On his return he met the captain and his followers with the news that a high tide had carried off three of the Fury's boats, injuring one of them seriously. The two parties now joined forces. On reaching Fury Beach, Ross set himself to work making what he believed to be final arrangements for the journey homeward. A house was hastily thrown together of sufficient size to accommodate the entire party, with separate quarters for the officers. It was called Somerset House. T h e ship's carpenters were then set to work repairing the boats and straightening them by means of additional bulkheads and beams, while proper sails were cut out for them by other workmen. B y the first of August the boats were ready for the sea voyage. The ice in the offing had broken up, exposing a goodly sweep of open water. Provisions were quickly embarked, a bottle was buried on the spot containing an account of the expedition thus far, and the two Rosses exchanged copies of their charts and narratives in case the boats should become separated. Leaving the beach, they now proceeded cautiously northward, careful of the ice before them and keeping a watchful eye for favorable leads. But fate was against them and, after a struggle of four weeks' duration, they found themselves but a few miles from their starting point, closely beset by the ice. On the twentyeighth, however, matters took a turn for the better; the ice opened, the gale which had almost wrecked the boats subsided, and the explorers were able to continue their travels. On the first day after this they reached Elwin B a y , well down the coast, and the next day set a course for Cape Y o r k across Prince Regent Inlet, only to be held back by the ice

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and forced to run along the shore, which they did as far as Cape Seppings at the junction of Prince Regent Inlet with Barrow Strait. Here inability to pass the ice barrier forced them to land and, in order to find shelter until a favorable opportunity occurred, they built a little house and settled down to await the opening of the ice field. On the first of September Ross ascended a neighboring hill from which he could see, far away to the east, Cape Warrender on the northern side of Lancaster Sound and even Hope's Monument (Cape Osborn) beyond it, while on the southern side of the sound there stood out the headlands beyond Cape York. The entire surface of the water visible from this point of vantage was covered by an unbroken field of ice. By the middle of the month there was no improvement; then the thermometer began to fall, and it seemed as though hopes were to be dashed again. A feeble attempt was made to continue the journey, but it proved abortive, and on the twentyfourth all agreed to return to Fury Beach for the coming winter. The following day the explorers started on their return journey to Somerset House, which was to be their home during the winter. They picked up a fresh breeze and were fortunate enough to find a passage, albeit a narrow one, just off the shore. The voyage, however, was slow, for the boats were soon blocked by ice at Elwin Bay, and forced ashore in a cove where the crews pitched their tents. When the ice loosened up, they were able to resume the journey, pushing their way slowly southward through the ice until they came to Batty Bay. Ross now placed his men on half rations, for they had still nearly forty miles to cover before sighting Somerset House. At this season of the year the temperature was inclined to fall rapidly and, as the men were not provided with the warmest sort of clothing, they began to suffer severely. These hardships were also aggravated by the de-

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pressed spirits of the sailors, who were suffering severely from the reaction caused by the sudden collapse of all hope of seeing home that year. The sea by this time was so covered with ice that Ross saw the impossibility of continuing the journey to Fury Beach by water; consequently the boats were hauled up on the beach, while the carpenter was set to work making sledges from the odds and ends of lumber at his command. When three of these conveyances had been completed, the supplies were loaded on them, and the explorers, leaving the boats in a place where they could readily be found the following year, proceeded toward Fury Beach on foot. It was rough going; but the physical exertion of dragging the sledges kept the men warm, despite their insufficient clothing. In this manner they plodded wearily along until they reached Somerset House, on the seventh of October at three o'clock in the afternoon. Work was now begun on the house to make it over into permanent winter quarters, for up to this time it had been but a structure erected to shelter the party for a few weeks. All stores left at various places were collected together, with the happy result that the sum total of all provisions was sufficient to tide the explorers over until the following spring. Despite his misfortunes, Ross took the situation philosophically; indeed he was even grateful to Providence for many incidents which, though some at the time were regarded as evil, in the end proved blessings in disguise. Listing them, he says: First, I may enumerate the loss of the Fury, by which accident the stores and provisions were left: next, the mutiny of the John's crew, for if that ship had come with us, we intended to have cleared [of supplies] Fury Beach: thirdly, the engine boilers, without which, we might have got so far that we could not have returned: fourthly, the Fury's boats, after having been carried off in the storms of the winter; having been cast on shore near the same place, without any material damage: and lastly, the

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construction of a habitation in summer, to which we were now mercifully permitted to return.

Another dreary winter now passed, more dreary than its predecessor, as the novelty of living in the Arctic had long since disappeared, and every one was impatient to get home. Quarters were more cramped than they had been on board the Victory, thus giving less opportunity for activities that might break the monotony of the daily routine. Even the storms [Ross tells us], were without variety, amid this eternal sameness of snow and ice: there was nothing to see out of doors, even when we could face the sky; and, within, it was to look, equally, for variety and employment, and to find neither. If those of the least active minds dozed away their time in the waking stupefaction which such a state of things produces, they were the most fortunate of the party. Those among us, who had the enviable talent of sleeping at all times, whether they were anxious or not, fared best.

Yet, if we may believe Ross, those who had the responsibility of the party suffered least from the feeling of general depression which hung like a pall over the band. The very responsibilities called for careful planning, and gave the mind an occupation which saved it from the introspective brooding which such a situation is likely to engender. The winter was spent by the officers, therefore, in making duplicates of their journals, and compiling reports on the social habits of the Eskimos. The captain is inclined to apologize for the meagerness of the details he gives us of this, his last winter in the Arctic, by pointing to the monotony of his life and the paucity of interesting incidents which could be used to enliven his narrative. Anticipating criticism, he says: I might have seen more, it has been said: it may be; but I saw only ice and snow, cloud and drift and storm. Still I might have seen what I did not; seen as a painter, and felt as a poet; and then, like painter and poet, have written. That also may be, but let painter and poet come hither and try: try how far cold and hunger, misery and depression, and those faculties which seem always best developed under the comforts of

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life, and under that tranquility at least, of mind, if not much more, which the poet and the writer require to bring their faculties into action.

Toward the last of April (1833) the younger Ross was dispatched with a load of supplies to B a t t y Bay, where the two boats had been abandoned the previous autumn, for the purpose of provisioning them for the coming voyage. It was a wearisome undertaking to transport the necessary provisions to the boats; in fact four journeys had to be made before the entire stores were removed to the bay. This done, the explorers settled down at Somerset House to make the best of things before the summer season permitted them to embark once more on the open sea. A t last, on the eighth of July, the party assembled and left their winter residence with a feeling, according to the captain, that was neither the pain of leaving what had been their home, nor the pleasure of finally quitting the scene of their miseries. T h e journey was slow and tedious, as the able-bodied were encumbered with the sick; but after four days of toil they succeeded in reaching Batty Bay. Though bears and foxes had made considerable inroads on the stores, the damage was not serious, there being ample left to supply the travelers on the coming journey. Another month passed before it was possible to launch the boats; then on the fourteenth of August open water appeared for the first time. The following day all set sail. Proceeding northward along the coast, they soon passed Elwin Bay and reached the northern terminus of Prince Regent Inlet. Here under a southerly breeze they headed across the inlet and soon found themselves beyond Cape York, having made in one day a run of seventy-two miles. There was now plenty of clear water ahead, but violent contrary winds rose to hold the boats in check. When these finally abated, the men were set to work with the oars, and managed to propel the boats across N a v y Board Inlet after twelve hours' strenuous labor. Early in the morning of the Œ330]]

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twenty-sixth, the lookout decried a sail in the distance. All hands were immediately roused, the boats, which had been drawn up on the beach for the night, were launched, and the men set to work with a will to overhaul the distant craft. But she evidently failed to notice her pursuers, for when a breeze sprang up her sails filled and she presently disappeared from sight. At ten o'clock another ship was seen to the northward; then the little fleet, giving up the chase of the first vessel, bore down upon her. When this vessel finally sighted the boats, she lowered her longboat, sending her mate with a crew to meet the strangers. Fate had indeed played a curious trick upon Captain Ross, for the ship now about to rescue his party was the Isabella, the same vessel he had himself commanded on his first voyage. Captain Humphreys, commander of the Isabellay gave the wearied explorers a royal welcome, placing every means he could command at their disposal. And indeed they needed it, the healthy as well as the sick, for a more miserable looking crowd of people had never before boarded a whaling vessel. To use the words of Ross: Unshaven since I know not when, dirty, dressed in the rags of wild beasts instead of the tatters of civilization, and starved to the very bones, our gaunt and grim looks, when contrasted with those of the well-dressed and well-fed men around us, made us all feel, I believe for the first time, what we really were, as well as what we seemed to others. Poverty is without half its mark, unless it be contrasted with wealth: and what we might have known to be true in the past days, we had forgotten to think of, till we were thus reminded of what we truly were, as well as seemed to be. But the ludicrous soon took place of all other feelings; in such a crowd and such confusion, all serious thought was impossible, while the new buoyancy of our spirits made us abundantly willing to be amused by the scene which now opened. Every man was hungry and was to be fed, all were ragged and were to be clothed, there was not one to whom washing was not indispensable, nor one whom his beard did not deprive of all English semblance. All, everything, too, was to be done at once; it was washing, dressing, shaving, eating, all intermingled, it was all the ma-

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terials of each jumbled together; while, in the midst of all, there were interminable questions to be asked and answered on all sides; the adventures of the Victory, our own escapes, the politics of England, and the news which was now four years old. But all subsided into peace at last. The sick were accommodated, the seamen disposed of, and all was done, for all of us, which care and kindness could perform. Night at length brought quiet and serious thoughts; and I trust there was not one man among us who did not then express, where it was due, his gratitude for that interposition which had raised us all from a despair which none could now forget, and had brought us from the very borders of a not distant grave, to life and friends and civilization.

Thus the wearied explorers rested while others assumed the labor of conveying them safely home. They reached England during the middle of October, where they were received as men risen from the dead. It was, indeed, a momentous voyage. Ross and his men had spent four winters in the Arctic, a record that was to endure until the following century. Great was the enthusiasm shown by the British public for the gallant explorers, when the news of their arrival had spread abroad. Though the discovery made by them had been a negative one, it was felt, and rightly so, that Ross had performed a feat that would rank high in the annals of British exploration. The Admiralty showed its appreciation by appropriating the sum of £4,580 to cover the wages of the seamen, each man being given double pay from the date of his enlistment until the Victory was abandoned, and full pay afterward, while J . C. Ross was advanced to the rank of post captain, and the purser and surgeon given comfortable berths in the navy; but beyond this the Admiralty would not go. In truth, the Lords Commissioners, by advancing money for the wages of the crew, had done more than they were legally bound to do. The truth of the matter was that Ross's funds were exhausted, as he had never expected to spend so long a time as four winters in the Arctic and he had no money left wherewith to pay his men. Un[[332]]

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willing to call again upon his friend, M r . B o o t h , for financial assistance, he had appealed to the sense of justice of the Board of Admiralty. A n d , be it said to the credit of that honorable body, his confidence was not misplaced. B u t when it came to rewarding the commander of the expedition, the Board did not feel that it had authority to act, though the members candidly admitted that his services deserved recognition. This brought u p the problem of w h a t recognition could be given him. A s Ross was not in the n a v y , it was impossible to offer him promotion, nor did the Board feel justified, for the same reason, in rewarding him financially from the funds covered b y the n a v y estimates. I t was therefore suggested to appeal to Parliament for a special grant. Fortunately at this time a friend stepped forward in the person of M r . Cutlar Fergusson, member from K i r k c u d bright, who introduced a petition into the House on M a r c h ί ο , 1834,® requesting the crown to confer some m a r k of favor on Captain Ross for his services. T h i s was reinforced b y petitions signed by the people of Hull and the people of Liverpool, voicing their hopes that the captain would be rewarded. M r . Fergusson requested an appropriation of £5,000, which would reimburse the explorer for the sum of £3,000 he had advanced out of his own pocket to defray the costs of the undertaking, and leave him an honorarium of £2,000, to recompense him for his sufferings. T h e honorable member expatiated at some length on the services of Captain Ross, stressing the fact that he had proved the nonexistence of a passage b y w a y of Prince R e g e n t Inlet, and had supplemented the discoveries of Captain P a r r y . T o the mention of this achievement another member pointed out that, b y exploring the coast of Baffin B a y , Ross had thrown open a vast territory to the fishermen who reaped a rich harvest thereby. T h e matter was argued pro and con by various members with the usual parliamentary verbosity, during Œ333]]

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which discussion Captain Ross's performances were thoroughly aired. At this time Ross had not yet published his narrative, so that many were honestly in doubt as to what he had actually accomplished; but the following statement by one of the proponents of the reward gives as good an account of what the explorers had done as could be stated in a few sentences: Since the discovery of America, there has existed an impression that a Northwest Passage could be discovered to the East Indies. Captain Ross's first voyage to work out this discovery was a failure; Captain Parry followed him, and certainly succeeded in penetrating the ice, and prosecuting his discoveries further than Captain Ross had done; but still the great question was left undecided. Captain Ross, however, has now ascertained, beyond a doubt, that a Northwest Passage does not exist; or, at all events, does not exist within such a degree of latitude as would make it practicable or available for the purposes either of commerce or of war. H e has set that point effectually at rest; and, having set it at rest, he has of course prevented the expenditure of any further sums of public money, in the hope of discovering the passage.

The upshot of the whole affair was to refer the business to a special committee to take evidence on the advisability of giving the captain a reward by a grant authorized by Parliament. The committee to which this work was intrusted was a large one, consisting of twenty-six members. It held three sessions in the months of March and April, 1834, during which several witnesses were examined, including Mr. Booth and the two Rosses. The committee, in arriving at its decision, undertook a systematic examination of the whole business. Captain Ross's career and services, prior to the present voyage were looked into, as well as the nature and value of his discoveries, his contribution to science, especially in locating the Magnetic Pole, the extent of his pecuniary losses, the question as to whether or not Mr. Booth would obtain a share of the reward—a question which that gentle-

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man stoutly answered in the negative—and the value which his first voyage had been to the fishing industry. In addition to these points, the committee asked Ross his opinion on the possibility of finding a passage, and its value to navigation if found. The captain was emphatic in his assertion that there was no communication between the Atlantic and Pacific south of the seventy-fourth parallel, a belief which he based, not only on the reports of the Eskimos regarding the land south of Felix Harbour, but on his own observations, which indicated a difference of thirteen feet between the sea levels on either side of the Isthmus of Boothia, a difference of level which could not exist if there were a strait connecting these two seas. Questioned as to the possibility of finding a passage in a more northerly latitude, he answered that while such a discovery was within the range of possibility, he was certain the passage would be of no use for commercial purposes. It is interesting to note in this connection that Commander J . C. Ross held somewhat different views on the subject. From his surveys of the western coast of Boothia, he felt more confident than ever of the existence of a passage, although practicable for navigation only under conditions more favorable than he had encountered during his several voyages; he even went so far as to hint that the passage might be of value to commerce. This disagreement between the two men may have had a deeper origin than appears on the surface. W e learn from the investigation of the committee that there was a misunderstanding between uncle and nephew. J . C. Ross testified that his position on the expedition was a sort of semi-independent command, and that he was not under the orders of the captain; in fact he hinted that this peculiar arrangement was one he had entered into with Mr. Booth's approval. This, however, was strongly denied both by the elder Ross and by Mr. Booth, who testified that the commander's position was clearly that of Œ33SI

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second in command. Such an arrangement, it must be admitted, seems far more in accordance with naval discipline and procedure than the one J . C. Ross claimed to have been in force. One can scarcely imagine an expedition of this nature setting forth under a divided command; it would have been doomed from the start. The committee having now made a thorough investigation of the merits of Captain Ross's request, reported favorably to the House, recommending a reward of £5,000 to the commander of the expedition; and in due time he received his well-earned remuneration.

( M

IX THE

J O U R N E Y S OF BACK, AND SIMPSON

AND

DEASE

OF

T H E J O U R N E Y S OF B A C K , A N D OF SIMPSON AND DEASE

W

H I L E the voyages we are about to describe in this chapter were not expeditions undertaken for the purpose of discovering the Northwest Passage, they deserve, nevertheless, more than passing notice, as two of them added their share to the rapidly accumulating knowledge of the Arctic coast of North America; and in this respect they belong in the same general classification as the journeys of Sir John Franklin. Shortly after the departure of Captain Ross on his second voyage, Dr. Richardson offered his services to the government for the purpose of leading an expedition which would complete the work begun by Franklin in surveying the coast west of the mouth of the Mackenzie River. He communicated his plan to Mr. H a y of the Colonial Office, giving an outline of his proposed route to the northern sea, but the offer was declined on the ground that the government was not then interested in such discoveries; in fact the government had not retreated from the position it had taken when Franklin and Parry returned from their last voyages. As time went on, and Captain Ross did not return from Prince Regent Inlet, his family and friends began to entertain serious apprehensions for his safety. Richardson then renewed his appeals to the government for a commission to lead an expedition, this time to search for the missing explorers. At first he met with some assurances from Mr. H a y , and he even began to collect the members of his party, but upon reconsidering the matter the government decided that there was no hope of saving Ross, and that appropriations Ì339Ì

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made for this purpose would be but money wasted. Even George Ross, father of James C. Ross, met with a polite but decided refusal when he applied to the Admiralty for a relief expedition to go to the assistance of his son and brother. Meanwhile, Commander George Back, who was then in Italy, hearing of the desperate situation of his former fellow explorers, decided to do something to relieve them, if it were not too late, or, at least to ascertain their fate. Writing to the Royal Geographical Society, he set forth a plan he had formulated to reach the Arctic Ocean at a place where he might get in touch with Ross's party. 1 In his communication he proposed to start in January or February and proceed to Montreal, which he should reach by the tenth of April. From there he would go to Great Slave Lake by way of Lake Superior, Lake Winnipeg and the Saskatchewan. Here he would skirt the southern shore of the lake to its eastern extremity, then go overland to the Great Fish River, which he had heard about from the Indians. This stream, Back believed, must empty into Prince Regent Inlet, or very near it; hence its mouth would be a good starting point for a boat journey to Fury Beach, where he hoped to find the Victory. Commander Back reached England in June, 1832, and at once called on Mr. Ross, who gladly accepted his ofFer to lead an expedition, and inserted Back's name in a petition to the king requesting a relief party for Captain Ross. T h e public was now roused, and the government saw the advisability of doing something to ascertain the fate of the explorers. A grant of £2,000 was appropriated to defray the cost of the undertaking, with the understanding that the expedition was to be in charge of Commander Back, and that an additional sum would be subscribed by Captain Ross's friends, while the Hudson's Bay Company offered to furnish canoes and supplies free of charge. Back, of course, accepted with alacrity. A standing committee, consisting of Œ340I

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a number of prominent persons, among whom we find Felix Booth, Secretary Barrow, George Ross, Dr. Richardson and several officers who had accompanied Parry on his numerous voyages, was formed to manage the expedition; and thanks to the energy displayed by them it was ready to start in February of the following year. Back was furnished with a set of instructions from the Colonial Office, which department had charge of the undertaking in place of the Admiralty, ordering him to proceed to Great Slave Lake and then to the banks of the Great Fish River, where he was to set up his winter quarters. The following year he was to descend the river to the sea with two boats capable of carrying the party, and attempt to reach the spot where the Fury had been wrecked. A careful lookout must, of course, be kept for any signs of the party, for they might be stranded somewhere along the coast; but whether he found Ross or not, he must be careful to be back in his winter quarters before cold weather set in. If possible, the second summer should be spent in the same manner, provided the missing explorers had not been found during the first season. In addition to the search for Captain Ross, Back was to observe such portions of the coast as had not been previously visited, and to draw maps of their outlines.2 Back left Liverpool on February 17, 1833, accompanied by Richard King, surgeon of the expedition, and three men, two of whom were veterans who had seen service under Franklin. The party reached Montreal by way of New York on the tenth of April, and were given a cordial reception. From there they betook themselves to Great Slave Lake by the route Back had taken when traveling under Franklin, reaching Fort Resolution on the eighth of August. The early date of his arrival at the post made it possible for him to conduct some preliminary explorations, which opened the way for the journey that was to take place the following spring. [[341]]

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By good fortune he found at the fort a half-breed named La Prise, who knew the location of the Great Fish River, and whose directions were particularly valuable, as he had learned the use of the compass from Captain Franklin in 1820. From this man Back learned of a direct water communication (barring three portages) from Great Slave to the Great Fish River, called by the Indians Thlew-ee-choh. Neither the Indians nor the Canadian guides, however, showed any enthusiasm for a journey to the river, as this stream had an evil reputation in their eyes; its waters were described as unnavigable and as flowing through a district haunted by evil spirits; clearly it was a place to be avoided. Another river, called by them the Teh-Ion, was offered as an alternate route; it was described as flowing through a country abounding in moose, reindeer, musk ox, and wood, a place where one might spend the winter comfortably; but Commander Back in the end decided to adhere to his original plan, and to make tracks for the Great Fish River. Back divided his party into two detachments: one he left in charge of a zealous member of the expedition named M'Leod; the other he took with him. Leaving Fort Resolution, he made his way eastward along the southern shore of Great Slave Lake under the guidance of the half-breed, La Prise, and passed through a small opening off Point Keith that led him to a large bay which he named Christie's Bay. Thence the course lay along the northern shore to the mouth of the Hoarfrost River. On arriving at this stream, the explorers began its ascent, an undertaking which compelled them to carry their canoe over a series of "appalling cascades" to the smoother water beyond. Here Back dismissed La Prise with a letter to M'Leod, ordering him to erect winter quarters at the eastern end of the lake, near the spot where the explorers were now encamped. The Hoarfrost River rises in a small lake, which Back now crossed; and

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from this lake he led his men by a series of small ponds to Artillery Lake, situated to the east of them. From this body of water he went north to Clinton Golden Lake, after carrying past the rapids of a connecting river. Paddling across the waters of this lake, he came presently to Lake Aylmer, the largest he had encountered since leaving the Great Slave. Here on the northern shore was a great bay, beyond which lay the source of the Great Fish River. The portage from Lake Aylmer to the little Sussex Lake, as the source of the Great Fish River is called, is only about a mile in length, and Back was not long in getting his party across it. Embarking on the river, he proceeded to descend it. Presently he came to Musk-Ox Lake, a few miles below Sussex, where a series of rapids compelled him to stop. As it was now the last day of August, Back concluded to return, for it was plainly evident that the distance to the sea was too great for him to cover before winter. According to the observations which he now made, he was 109 miles south of Bathurst Inlet, which the reader will recall was the large gulf indenting the northern coast, not far from Point Turnagain. Furthermore, as two Indian guides, who had been down the stream a short distance, stated that the river turned to the left and flowed due north, he came to the conclusion—an erroneous one, to be sure—that it was the river flowing into Bathurst Inlet which Franklin had named Back's River. On the return journey Back varied his route somewhat. When he reached Artillery Lake, he crossed its waters to the southern extremity, instead of leaving them for the Hoarfrost River, and after proceeding for a distance of forty miles down a stream which flowed from it, reached a spot where it contracts its banks to hurl itself into a branch of Great Slave Lake known as M'Leod's Bay, over a group of hazardous rapids to which the name of Parry's Falls was given. Here on the shore of the lake M'Leod had begun the post which was Œ343I

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to be the winter quarters of the party. It was called F o r t Reliance. T h e men at once applied themselves to completing the construction of their buildings and making everything ready for the coming season. T h e winter proved to be a hard one because of the lack of food. T h e Englishmen at their post were well enough supplied, but the Indians in the neighborhood suffered severely from insufficient nourishment. Indeed, starvation soon set in for some of these wretched beings, and we find in Back's narrative many examples of the ruthlessness of famine in the frozen North. T h e commander gives an appalling incident of cannibalism, which took place several years before his arrival, that is interesting to the reader as showing the horror with which the practice was regarded b y the natives. A Cree came to Fort Resolution with a pitiful story of the death of his wife and children, who had starved far off in the forest. When he had finished his tale, to which everyone listened in silence, one of the group about him openly accused him of having deliberately killed his family for food. This he denied vigorously, but his entire demeanor g a v e evidence of guilt, and he was carefully avoided b y his fellows. Presently he became defiant, uttering threats against his hosts who, unwilling to stand the abuses of this fellow, shot him on the spot. In the shooting a boy whom he had brought with him was injured, and this lad, now fearing for his life, offered to tell the whole story. H e then revealed the fact that this miserable savage had killed his wife and children and fed on their bodies. W i t h the coming of spring (1834), preparations were made for the voyage. Dr. K i n g was sent with a detachment to the western shore of Artillery L a k e , where the boats were to be constructed. On the twenty-fifth of April, j u s t a year after the explorers had left L a Chine, near Montreal, a courier suddenly burst into the fort and thrust a packet into B a c k ' s hands. Hastily tearing it open, the commander took Œ344]]

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out two newspaper clippings, which he found contained the tidings of Captain Ross's safe arrival in England, together with an official letter giving the same information. Great was the rejoicing at Fort Reliance when the explorers learned of the providential return of their fellow countrymen whom they had almost given up as lost. Assembling together, they offered up their thanks to Heaven for the happy outcome of Ross's expedition. T h e thought of so wonderful a preservation [writes Back], overpowered for a time the common occurrences of life. W e had j u s t sat down to b r e a k f a s t ; but our appetite was gone, and the day was passed in a feverish state of excitement. Seldom, indeed, did m y friend M r . K i n g or I indulge in a libation, but on this j o y f u l occasion economy was forgotten; a treat was given to the men, and for ourselves the social s y m p a t h i e s were quickened by a generous bowl of punch.

It is interesting to note in connection with this packet the speed with which it was relayed across the wilds of North America to the little far-off post on Great Slave Lake. T h e official letter, written in London on October 11, 1833, was forwarded to the factors through whose posts it must pass, with instructions to send it on with the least possible delay. The express left Sault Ste Marie on January 21, 1834, and was never delayed for more than twenty-four hours at any station along the route. On one occasion the courier left the post within an hour after the arrival of the letter. It is indeed a remarkable tribute to the mail service of the Hudson's Bay Company. The rescue of Captain Ross and his party, however, was in no way to deter Back from his work of discovery; in fact the instructions he now received directed him to proceed with the secondary purpose of his undertaking, namely, the exploration of the eastern part of the northern coast of America. The fort was accordingly closed for the summer, windows and doors being blocked up, then, accompanied by Œ345I

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Dr. King and four companions, Back set off on the seventh of June to join the advance guard on Artillery Lake. T h e boats had just been completed, and Back selected a stout craft about thirty feet long as the one to be used on the voyage. Starting out on the tenth, the party made their way over the route explored the previous year, and after a journey of over two weeks encamped at the portage leading from Sand Hill Bay, in Aylmer Lake, to Sussex Lake. Here they found M'Leod with a detachment which had been sent on ahead to collect supplies for the main body. The boat was now carried across the narrow stretch of intervening land, and was successfully launched on the waters of the Great Fish River. Once fairly under way, the commander ordered M'Leod to return to Fort Resolution, at the same time giving him instructions to be back again on the Great Fish River by the middle of September, to render the explorers any assistance they might require on their return journey. As he was getting ready to proceed down the river, Back was astonished to learn that the aged chief, Akaitcho, whom he had met when following Franklin on his first journey, was not far off, and requested an interview. Wishing to see the old warrior again, he sent him presents, and the savage, delighted at the prospect of renewing his friendship with the Englishmen, hastened to the tent of the commander. In the interview between the two men it developed that Akaitcho felt dire forebodings as to the outcome of the expedition into this unknown country, where, in addition to the dangers of the territory they were to traverse, the travelers would be obliged to face the hostile Eskimos. Back at first attempted to quiet the old man's fears, then seeing the impossibility of reassuring him, he stepped aboard his craft, bade him farewell with a request that he collect an abundant supply of meat for the Englishmen when they should return in the autumn, and then shoved off into the stream. Œ346I

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The party was now reduced to eight men beisdes Dr. King and Commander Back. Leaving Akaitcho on the eighth of July, they descended the river, passing numerous rapids that poured their turbulent waters through a wilderness hitherto unseen by the white man, and lakes of various sizes, over whose placid bosoms the canoe men drove their craft. After a three weeks' journey through this strange land, Back arrived at a place where the river empties its waters into the sea over the last cascade. Here he saw encamped on its banks a tribe of those Eskimos against whom the Indians had so frequently warned him. He found these natives, despite the evil reputation given them by the Indians around Great Slave Lake, to be friendly enough, and at once applied himself to the task of questioning them as to the extent of the coast before them. Having no interpreter, the business proved difficult, but after Back had sketched the course of the river down which he had come, one of the natives seized the pencil and drew a rough representation of the coast nearby. Then he indicated by signs its direction and extent in such a manner that the commander came to the conclusion that there was a continuous shore line from Point Turnagain to some part of Prince Regent Inlet. After carrying their boat, with the help of the Eskimos, past the last rapid, the explorers embarked and proceeded down the bay. To the north they espied a lofty headland rising from the shore, which they named Victoria Headland; it formed a prominent landmark on the eastern shore of the inlet on which they were sailing. Just a few miles north of the place where they had launched their boat, the sides of the bay spread out abruptly, and here Back established the actual mouth of the Great Fish River, and here, he said, the sea began. In summing up his description of the geographical features of the river, he writes: Œ347]]

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T h i s then m a y be considered as the mouth of the Thlew-ee-choh, which, after a violent and torturous course of five hundred and thirty geographical miles, running through an iron-ribbed country without a single tree on the whole line of its banks, expanding into fine large lakes with clear horizons, most embarrassing to the navigator, and broken into falls, cascades, and rapids, to the number of no less than eighty-three in the whole, pours its waters into the Polar Sea in latitude 6 7 o 1 1 ' 0 0 " Ν . , and longitude 94 o 3 0 ' o " W . ; that is to say, about thirty-seven miles more south than the mouth of the Coppermine River, and nineteen miles more south than that of Back's R i v e r at the lower extremity of Bathurst's Inlet.

B y the middle of August B a c k had seen all that he was destined to discover on this voyage. Proceeding always northward over the gulf, he at last reached Point Ogle on its western side, which headland marked its entrance. Here the land turned sharply westward. T h e explorers remained encamped on the spot several days, being storm-bound by a fresh gale, and improved their time by making a rough survey of the place. They found to the west of Point Ogle a low hill only eighty feet high, to which the name of M t . Barrow was given. From its summit a huge opening was seen to the westward, blocked by a mountain range which terminated to the north at a bluff called Point Richardson. From his coign of vantage the commander discerned to the north across the water before him, a promontory he named Point Maconochie and east of it one he called after J a m e s Ross. Between the two he believed he saw evidence of a passage, though he felt unable to say whether or not it was connected with that western sea which had recently been explored by Commander Ross. T o the northeast lay a vast stretch of water and ice, beyond which he observed the dark gray of what is called a water s k y ; while an open sea extended to the eastward as far south as Cape H a y on the opposite shore of the gulf. The clear water he discerned to the eastward led Back to the erroneous conclusion that there was a strong probabilŒ348I

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ity of a connection with Prince Regent Inlet in this direction; but the ice, which clung close to the shore, prevented navigation, and the explorer was obliged to remain content with what he had been able to see from M t . Barrow. T o the west conditions were no better. Back intended to pursue his discoveries still further, leaving a detachment to protect the boats while he proceeded to survey the coast as far as Point Turnagain; but his plan had to be abandoned, as the men would have sunk knee deep in the soft mud under the weight they would have been obliged to carry. Such being the case, the commander abandoned the thought of exploration. He took formal possession of the territory he had discovered, giving it the name of King William I V Land. The latitude of the place where he made his observations was computed as 68° 1 3 ' 57". I t is unnecessary to trace the return of the party. On the twenty-seventh of September they were back at Fort Reliance, "tired indeed, but well in health." For a while B a c k toyed with the idea of forcing a way overland to Bathurst Inlet and thence along the coast to Point Turnagain; but this appeared to be a difficult undertaking, not worth the trouble it would cost, as the sea about the inlet would probably have been filled with ice, thus rendering navigation impossible. All plans for further exploration were therefore abandoned; the men settled down to pass the winter as comfortably as possible; and the following year all returned to Montreal and then to New Y o r k , where they took ship for England, arriving at Liverpool on September 8, 1835. T h e voyages of Captain Ross and Commander B a c k had again drawn the attention of the public, and particularly of the scientific world, to the problem of the Northwest Passage which had been permitted to lapse since the days of P a r r y . Recently a fleet of whaling vessels had been caught in the Œ349I

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ice, and had drifted down through Davis Strait before they were released. This incident caused the learned to regard the southerly drift of the ice in this part of the world as proof of the presence of a steady current flowing from Baffin B a y , and revived the belief that the current was one which had its origin in the Pacific Ocean. Public interest being therefore roused, it presently expressed itself in a resolution, passed by the R o y a l Geographical Society at their meeting of February 8, 1836, to petition the government to send out another expedition of discovery. A t this meeting a committee was also appointed to obtain opinions from various authorities as to the manner in which this work of discovery should be undertaken. T h e first communication received from the experts was that of Dr. Richardson. The physician was not, as he himself admitted, so much interested in the discovery of a passage as he was in the completion of the work of discovery along the northern coast, which he and Franklin had begun, and he firmly felt that the government was in duty bound to continue the business. He based his belief in the existence of a passage, however, on his conviction that the current found in Bering Strait was the same as the one Parry had noticed issuing from F u r y and Hecla Strait. So much, he averred, had already been done by those who had surveyed the Arctic coast that it was only necessary, in order to discover the passage, to find the connecting link between the waters of the Atlantic and those that washed the northern shores of North America. This would probably be found either through a channel leading from Cape Walker (the western headland at the northern entrance to Peel Sound), or a strait bisecting the land south of Boothia Peninsula. Richardson's plan, however, was to discover the passage by continuing the exploration of the northern coast of America, west of the mouth of the Mackenzie and east of Point Turnagain. He then gave Œ350I

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in some detail the scheme he had for carrying on this work. 3 Franklin, in the main supported Richardson's plan of exploring the unknown portions of the northern shore line, but he formulated a different scheme of execution. He had, several years before, recommended to the Lord High Admiral a method of reaching the coast by way of Repulse Bay or Wager River. This route he still considered the logical one. The distance from Wager Bay to the Arctic Ocean was but forty miles, if one could rely on the information gathered by Parry, Ross and Back, and he therefore advocated sailing to the bay with two vessels, provided with two boats capable of containing sufficient supplies for a long voyage, and yet light enough to be carried overland. These boats were to be taken from the bay to the Arctic Ocean, where they were to be separated, one sailing westward to Point Turnagain, the other eastward to Fury and Hecla Strait. Franklin realized that the plan would be greatly facilitated if a strait were to be found beyond the westernmost land seen by Commander Back from Mt. Barrow; but if there were no strait, the boats could then be carried over the intervening land, and launched in the waters that led to Point Turnagain. The possibility of there being water communication caused Franklin to look all the more favorably on Richardson's scheme of sending a boat eastward along the coast from the mouth of the Coppermine, for then the boat could trace the shore line northward to Cape Walker, and gain information exceedingly useful to vessels searching for the passage. He suggested J . C. Ross as commander of the expedition to Wager Bay, and George Back as leader of the party to the Coppermine. 4 Secretary Barrow lost no time in expressing his opinion on the subject in writing. T o do him justice, he was exceedingly anxious that his countrymen should reap the reward of their mighty labors and be the first to uncover the passage. Œ3 5iU

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He firmly believed that the current off" Icy Cape flowed eastward through Fury and Hecla Strait, and his only question was: "Does that water communication between the Atlantic and Pacific admit of a navigable passage for ships?" Barrow blames the failure of Parry and Ross to find an opening on the course they pursued in clinging close to shore and then becoming embayed in the ice. Drawing from his own vast experience in the Arctic—as we know, he had once spent a summer on a whaling vessel off Spitzbergen—he informed his readers that he had once been beset in the ice for three whole days, and from this experience had learned that a ship so caught ran but little danger. In the search for the passage, which he proposed to undertake with deep-draft vessels, the ships should not hug the shore, but should stand out boldly into the open sea and let the ice do its worst. Barrow, moreover, was confident that the open sea was at hand just beyond Barrow Strait, for both Franklin and Richardson in their journeys along the shore of North America had found several places where there was no land visible to the north. Captain Beechey had noticed the same condition off Icy Cape, while J. C. Ross on the western shore of Boothia had failed to see land in the offing. From these bits of evidence the secretary concluded that a vast open sea extended along the northern shore of America west of Boothia; it was only necessary to sail through it. 5 Capt. John Ross expressed his approval of Franklin's plan for finishing the work of surveying the northern coast, and his gratification at the thought of renewing the search for the passage. He disagreed, however, with Barrow as to the method to be pursued. The idea of striking out into the open sea was not at all to his liking, for he failed to see the cogency of the secretary's reasoning about the presence of such a sea west of Boothia. Parry, when off the island of Melville, had found the ice setting toward the east, proof

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t h a t it met with land resistance to the south, otherwise it would have drifted 250 miles in that direction to the coast of America. Consequently there must be land, and plenty o f it, in the hypothetical open sea of Barrow; and Ross in this instance was right, though it must be said in palliation of Barrow's theory that, b y following it in his last v o y a g e , Franklin discovered Peel Sound, leading south to the American coast, the only route b y which a ship has ever reached the Pacific. Furthermore, Ross saw the absurdity of trusting vessels to the ice in places where the ice was crushed together by surrounding masses of land, and could not expand as it did in the open waters of Davis Strait. It was dangerous enough, he pointed out, for shallow-draft ships to venture into such conditions, but to send out vessels drawing eighteen feet of water, as Barrow proposed to do, would be fatal.® In summing up the situation, Captain Beaufort, hydrographer to the n a v y , expressed his belief in the advisability of sailing through the open sea if a passage were to be discovered; nevertheless, he selected the general plan set forth by Sir John Franklin as the best of those submitted, for since it was the object of the Geographical Society to acquire geographical knowledge, a sea voyage for the discovery of the passage would, in case of failure, add nothing to this knowledge, while an expedition along the coast would be of considerable scientific value. H e therefore suggested that the council of the Society persuade the government to fit out expeditions along this line. 9 T h u s was Franklin's plan adopted. T o command the expedition that was to seek the Arctic shore by w a y of the W a g e r River or Repulse B a y , the government selected George Back. T h i s gallant officer was now at the height of his career. On his return from the discovery of the G r e a t Fish River, he had been advanced to the rank of captain b y an Order in Council, the first time such

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an honor had been accorded to anyone, save King William IV. He had also received the gold medal of the Royal Geographical Society. On M a y 13, 1836, the government gave him his official appointment as commander of the Terror, a vessel that had just been overhauled and strengthened for work among the ice floes of the North. Three large whaleboats, light in weight, but strong in construction, were specially built for this service and equipped with sledges to convey them overland. The ship's company consisted of sixty men, including officers as well as seamen. The instructions, issued by the Admiralty to Captain Back on the eleventh of June, grouped the objects of the expedition under two headings: first, to ascertain the outline of the Arctic coast from the point at which the explorers might strike the southern shore of Prince Regent Inlet to Fury and Hecla Strait, and, if there were time, to continue the work of exploration up the eastern shore of the inlet to Cape Kater; secondly, to determine the outline of the coast from the point of arrival at the inlet westward to Point Turnagain, and if possible northward to the Magnetic Pole. 8 T o accomplish his task, Back was ordered to proceed to Hudson B a y , where he might choose between a route by way of Frozen Strait and one up the Welcome to reach the Wager River; but if conditions were unfavorable for reaching this arm of the sea, he might make his way to Repulse Bay instead. When he had arrived at the place he had chosen for his winter quarters, he was to send out reconnoitering parties and to make a preliminary survey of the best route to be used in reaching the Arctic Ocean the following spring. The Admiralty was particularly careful to warn the captain not to allow himself to be sidetracked, but to keep ever in mind the main purpose of the expedition. " T o the vigorous pursuit of these interesting geographical questions," ran the instructions, "all minor objects must be sacrificed; and no Œ3S4]]

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halt in the progress towards the termination of the journeys above mentioned should be anywhere permitted, for the purpose of obtaining information on any of those collateral subjects which otherwise it would be highly desirable to collect." Three days after receiving his instructions, Back set sail and was soon on his way toward Hudson Strait. The voyage across the Atlantic was plain enough sailing, but once within the strait difficulties began. Back hugged the northern shore of the channel, and after a month's cruising reached the entrance of Frozen Strait on the first of September. Here he found himself closely beset by ice, and began to experience, to his chagrin, the vagaries of Arctic navigation, for he recalled the account given by Parry of the ease with which Frozen Strait had been negotiated during the summer when he had explored these regions. On seeing a water sky to the south, Back headed his vessel in this direction and, after laboriously warping his way through the ice, finally came abreast of Cape Comfort on Southampton Island. Here the ship became immovable, though the irritated sailors could see open water only a hundred yards from them. As a last resort, the men were set to work cutting a channel to this open space, an arduous task which fortunately was successful, and Back managed to push his vessel into an expanse of water about four miles in length. They were now about ten miles from land, but after making a little progress toward the coast the ice again surrounded the ship and held her fast. Captain Back now began to feel somewhat uneasy about his situation, for although it was but the seventh of September, winter had set in to all appearances, and there was little chance of getting to the Wager River or even to Repulse Bay, that year. His ship was being gradually driven in toward the shore under a tremendous pressure of ice that would have demolished a vessel not specially constructed to Ì3SSÌ

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withstand it. By the first of the following month she had been beset for about thirty days, during which time she had been able to move only in such directions as the ice chanced to open, and then only for a very short distance. Baffin Island at the entrance to Frozen Strait was but twenty miles away, yet it was impossible to reach it, while to add to the problem the ice began to close in to the rear, thus cutting off all retreat. Back therefore consulted his officers as to what course he should pursue, and found them all of the opinion that there was no possibility of advancing any farther that year, and that it would be well to consider the advisability of going into winter quarters. As it was impossible to move the Terror into a harbor, preparations were at once made to spend the winter in the ice by making her as secure as circumstances would permit. The light spars were lowered, the housing cloth set up amidships to form a shelter for the crew, and the heating apparatus put in order; but Back determined to keep in readiness to take advantage of any opening that might appear in the ice, even in midwinter, whereby he could work his ship into the strait. It was not long now before the vessel became permanently beset, and the crew began to make ready for the coming of the long Arctic winter. The devices used to protect the company from the cold and the discomforts they were about to face, do not appear to have been so effective as those used on previous expeditions, especially the apparatus for distributing heat throughout the vessel, a contrivance which was constantly in need of repair. Moreover, to add to the difficulties, Back was obliged to face, it continued impossible to get the ship into any sort of harbor, so he was obliged to allow her to drift to and fro with the ice pack. This usage, despite the rugged construction of the vessel, placed a great strain upon her, for exposed as she was to the ice, the enormous pressure ground her sides and started her timbers, doing particular damage to 13561

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her sternpost, and causing her commander to wonder how far she might be seaworthy, when she was finally afloat once more in open water. Upon discussing the situation with his officers, he found that they entertained the same fears as he did, and it was therefore decided to keep a boat in constant readiness to dispatch to the nearest station of the Hudson's Bay Company, in case the ship foundered. During the winter the Terror drifted slowly down the coast of Southampton Island in a southeasterly direction. By the middle of June she was off Charles Island in Hudson Strait, and as it appeared that she might at any time burst free from the icy bounds that held her, Back determined to repair the rudder, which had been badly shattered by the continual pressure about it. The task was no easy one, for the sternpost was split and unable to support the rudder. The first lieutenant, however, fortunately managed to construct a steering apparatus partly from a section of a spare rudder he had on board, and partly from a portion of the one in use, which he contrived to hang in such a manner as to relieve the strain on the weakened part of the post. The crew now began the labor of freeing their vessel from the ice, hacking and sawing away the huge blocks in the hope of getting her into open water. A month later Back, realizing that his vessel would soon be free, took stock of her condition with a view to renewing his work of discovery; but the damage proved worse than be expected, and he accordingly asked his master and three lieutenants for their opinions as to what should be done. All were unanimous in agreeing that the Terror should return to England as soon as possible. Unpalatable as this decision was, it proved to be the only one that sensible men could reach, for the hard usage to which the vessel had been subjected rendered her unfit for Arctic navigation. And now occurred an incident which nearly proved the explorers' undoing. As the ship was gradually sliding out of

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her icy berth, the crew to their astonishment saw her rise and slowly heel to port. We on board [writes Back in his narrative], had been surprised that no counter action occurred, and were beginning to wonder that the vessel did not recover her equilibrium, but were now startled by the conviction that she was gradually going over; and the great inclination rendering it impossible to stand on deck, everyone clung on to windward as best he could. Then it was we beheld the strange and appalling spectacle of what may be fitly termed a submerged berg, fixed low down to one end of the ship's side, while the other, with the purchase of a long lever, advantageously placed at a right angle with the keel, was slowly rising towards the surface. Meanwhile, those who happened to be below, finding everything falling, rushed or clambered on deck, where they saw the ship on her beam-ends, with the lee boats touching the water, and felt that a few moments only trembled between them and eternity. Yet in that awful crisis there was no confusion; the sails were clewed up and lowered; fresh men from former crews were stationed in the boats, which again were rather unhooked than lowered; the barge was hoisted out; and with a promptitude and presence of mind which I shall ever remember with admiration, the whole five were provisioned and filled with ammunition, and clothing, and veered astern clear of danger.

To save the ship, the crew were immediately ordered to saw through the berg along her side. The ice here was four fathoms thick, but on the success of cutting it through depended the safety of the vessel. It was a heartbreaking task; the shears and stages were quickly set up, and the men taking turns attacked the job vigorously. At the end of fifteen hours, broken only by an hour's rest, the commander was obliged to call a halt, although there remained but a length of fifteen feet to be cut. While the men were lying prone about the deck in a state of partial exhaustion the ice began to yield, and in a very few moments the ship had righted herself and slipped off into the water. From now on there was no question as to the proper course to pursue, for even the most sanguine saw the possibility of a fatal termination of the undertaking. The Terror [[3 5 81

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was headed eastward, and every effort made to keep her on her course while she could remain above water. But the gallant vessel, which had braved so many perils in the icy waters of Fox Channel, narrowly escaped foundering in the open water of the Atlantic. As she neared her destination, the leakage, which at first had been kept under control, commenced to gain on the pumps, while her nearly water-logged condition reduced her speed to three or four knots an hour. The heavy roll of the sea loosened timbers and started bulkheads. Fortunately, it was not until she was off the northern coast of Ireland that she met with any weather, when a gale blowing for several days put a finishing touch to the work of destruction; only by the superhuman efforts of the crew and the greatest skill on the part of the officers was she kept afloat and brought safely into port. Back, at this point, determined to put into the nearest harbor on the Irish coast instead of attempting to reach England. A t last, on the third day of September at midnight, she dropped anchor in Lough Swilly in a sinking condition. But the sturdy old ship was not yet through with her labors in the Arctic; she was skillfully repaired and lived to carry Sir John Franklin on his last journey. The expedition of Simpson and Dease, which we shall now take up, is a notable one, as these explorers all but completed the work of Franklin and Richardson along the northern coast of America. If we go back to the charter of the Hudson's Bay Company, we find that it required the grantees to make some effort to discover the mysterious passage that was believed to connect the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. During the first half of the eighteenth century, the company had made a few abortive attempts to fulfill its obligations by sending expeditions northward along the western shore of Hudson B a y ; but these efforts soon died Ì3S9Ì

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out, never to be renewed, although when the British Government took up the search for the Northwest Passage, the company offered every possible assistance to the expeditions that were dispatched overland. Now that the government, after a brief period of inactivity, was again becoming interested in the adventure, the directors of the company determined to shoulder the burden of the overland expedition themselves, and to dispatch a party that would close up the gaps left by Franklin, Richardson and Back in the topography of the northern coast. The man selected to lead the undertaking was Peter W. Dease, whom the reader will recall as the factor who assisted Franklin on his second venture; but the man to whom we owe our knowledge of the voyage was the junior officer, Thomas Simpson, an energetic young Scotchman of about twenty-eight years of age, who had come to Canada in the service of the company in the year 1829. According to the instructions drawn up by Governor George Simpson, the company's head in America, a party of twelve men was to proceed to Lake Athabasca, or to Great Slave Lake, if possible, where they were to spend the winter. The following year they were to explore the Arctic coast westward from the Mackenzie to the spot "whence Captain Beechey's barge returned," and the next year from the Coppermine eastward to the Great Fish River, if such a passage were feasible; but if, as Ross maintained, Boothia Felix (/. e., Boothia Peninsula) were indeed a peninsula, they were to cross the isthmus connecting it with the mainland, and then to follow the coast to Point Richardson or some point discovered by Captain Back. Thus would the entire shore line from the mouth of the Great Fish River to Bering Strait be surveyed. Unfortunately, lack of proper geographical knowledge had led Governor Simpson to suppose that the isthmus lay between the Great Fish River and [[360]]

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Point T u r n a g a i n ; as a matter of fact, it connects Boothia Peninsula with the mainland east of that stream. Dease and Simpson left Fort C h i p e w y a n on L a k e A t h a basca on June ι , 1837. 9 T h e y took the usual route to G r e a t Slave L a k e , where they entered the M a c k e n z i e R i v e r . Before tracing this mighty stream to the Arctic Ocean, the explorers stopped at G r e a t Bear L a k e , where they told off a number of their party to convey a boatload of supplies to the northeastern extremity of the lake, and erect a building there to shelter them during the coming winter. On the third of July the main b o d y , consisting of fourteen men, took their departure, and were soon gliding down the waters of Bear L a k e River to the Mackenzie. Pausing a moment at F o r t Good Hope, which now stood at a spot higher up on the river than when Franklin had visited it, they met some Loucheux Indians who warned them against the treachery of the Eskimos. T h e n they continued down the stream, until on the morning of the ninth " t h e Arctic Ocean burst into v i e w . " T h e journey westward along the coast was m a d e rapidly and with little trouble. T h e fifteenth of the month saw the explorers at Demarcation Point, and from there they passed without hindrance to Point Humphreys, where their progress was momentarily arrested. Steering outside of B a r t e r Island, they crossed C a m d e n B a y and then stopped on shore, where they were greeted by a tribe of Eskimos who entertained them with every mark of good will. F r o m this spot they continued their v o y a g e to Flaxman Island and, passing through the channel that separates it from the land, drew up at Point Bullen for rest and refreshment. On reaching F o g g y Island B a y , they found themselves entirely blocked by ice. For a day or so a strong gale blew, m a k i n g all progress impossible, but it opened the ice to such an extent that the boats were able to proceed when it had abated. T h e y pushed on, [[361]]

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and on the twenty-third of the month came abreast of Return Reef, Franklin's farthest west. The success of the party thus far was attributed by Simpson to the policy which they had observed of doubling the great ice packs instead of waiting for them to disperse, as many of them would have held the boats on shore for a fortnight before they broke up. Now the work of discovery began. Leaving Return Reef, the explorers passed the points which Franklin, when gazing upon them from a distance, had named Point Back and Point Beechey; in the far distance they saw the magnificent chain of mountains to which was given the name of Pelly, in honor of the governor (in England) of the Hudson's Bay Company. From Point Beechey the land trended to the west for twelve miles to Point Berens, where it took a more southerly slant, disclosing a huge bay. Simpson coasted along the shore of this indentation, passing the mouth of the Colville River, a truly imposing stream, that pours out such a volume of water as to render the sea fresh three leagues from shore. But the shoals formed by the sediment brought down by the Colville now proved a stumbling block to navigation. The boats stood well out to sea, often out of sight of the beach, until by holding a course to the northwest they eventually came to the western side of the bay at a headland which Simpson named Point Comfort. Progress thus far had been gratifying, despite the shoals and the ice, for the travelers had made over three degrees of westing on one run, which put them about halfway between Return Reef and Point Barrow. From Point Comfort it was but a short run to Cape Halkett, which terminates the bay they were now traversing. This bay is a huge indentation of the coast fully fifty miles broad. Simpson named it Harrison Bay. The shore line now took a westerly trend, and the explorers sailed their boat along it until they came to Point

h^l

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Pitt, beyond which they found an indentation they named Smith Bay. Here grave difficulty was encountered with the ice, and despite all that could be done Simpson concluded that he had about reached the limit of navigation for the present season. Moreover, the weather was becoming colder, the men were complaining of illness, and it became evident that if they lingered much longer in this region, they might be unable to reach Great Bear Lake in time to go into winter quarters. After a final attempt to break through the ice on the last day of July, Simpson decided to leave the boats in charge of Dease, while he pushed on with five men on foot to Point Barrow, distant about two degrees of longitude, an excursion which he believed could be completed in ten or twelve days. Simpson and his men left the boat early in the morning of the first of August, traveling light, but carrying a small canvas canoe for emergencies. Clinging close to the shore line, they reached their first camp site at seven o'clock in the evening, after covering a distance of twenty miles. The following day they turned sharply to the south-southwest, entering Dease Inlet. Here they met a settlement of Eskimos, who appeared to have been in touch with the Russians of Alaska. These men furnished them with venison, but the unpalatable manner in which it was dressed in oil caused the Englishmen to decline the refreshment with thanks. Simpson now bought three oomiaks (canoes) from these people, as he noticed that the water to the west was clearing and, lashing them together, fashioned a craft that would transport the entire party, to the great astonishment of the natives. One of the Eskimo women drew a sketch of the inlet and the coast west of it. Guided by this, the travelers embarked and, steering due west through the fog, crossed the inlet to the other side; then rounding a headland they came to Elson Bay, and turning their eyes toward the west beheld I363I

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in the distance the long-sought Point Barrow, now for the first time approached from the east. Says Simpson, in describing the event: L a n d i n g b e y o n d it [a headland] I saw, with indescribable emotions, Point Barrow, stretching out to the northward, and enclosing Elson B a y , near the b o t t o m of which we now were. T h e sun was j u s t reappearing, a little before ι in the morning of the 4 t h , when this j o y f u l sight met m y eyes. H i s early r a y s decked the clouds in splendour as I poured forth m y grateful orisons to the F a t h e r of L i g h t , w h o had guided our steps securely through e v e r y difficulty and danger.

Point Barrow, judging from Simpson's description, was not imposing. He speaks of it as " a long low spit, composed of gravel and coarse sand, forced up by the pressure of the ice into numerous mounds, that, viewed from a distance, might be mistaken for gigantic boulders." Here he found encamped a tribe of Eskimos, affable enough in their relations with white men, who welcomed the strangers, supplied them with articles of their manufacture, and entertained them with their grotesque dances. Simpson took an observation and found himself in latitude 71 0 23' 33" and longitude 156 o 10' W. The prospect to the westward looked so promising for further travel that he would have liked to continue his journey to Bering Strait, and he expresses regret in his narrative that the coast ahead of him had already been explored. There was nothing for him to do, now that his task had been accomplished, but to retrace his steps, and this he immediately did, rejoining Dease and his party without misadventure. From Boat Extreme, as Simpson calls the place where Dease had remained encamped, the return journey was accomplished with but little trouble, the party reaching the mouth of the Mackenzie on the seventeenth of August. About two weeks later they arrived at Fort Good Hope, where they stopped to rest and refresh themselves. A few days after this they resumed their journey [ M

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and ascended Bear L a k e R i v e r to G r e a t Bear L a k e ; and late in September, after a leisurely v o y a g e , came at last to their winter quarters at the mouth of the Dease River. T h i s post they named Fort Confidence. While awaiting impatiently the coming of spring, Dease and Simpson received a letter from Governor Simpson dated June 30, 1837. A t the time this epistle was written, the explorers had not yet returned from their v o y a g e , hence the writer had no knowledge of their success. A f t e r assuring them that the supplies which the company had stored at its various posts were at their disposal for the coming season, and giving them carte blanche to draw on these at their discretion, the governor urged them to spend the coming summer in exploring the western section of the coast line, if they had not succeeded in reaching Point Barrow on their first attempt, and to postpone their other excursion to the eastward until the third year, for the company was willing to incur any expense for the accomplishment of this object. In a previous letter Simpson (the explorer) had been apprised of Back's cruise to W a g e r B a y , and now he was looking forward to meeting him somewhere in the vicinity of the mouth of the G r e a t Fish River. T o arrange for an auspicious beginning of the v o y a g e the following spring, Simpson set out to explore the Barren L a n d s between the Dease River and the Coppermine. F o r three days his party ascended the former stream, then leaving its banks, struck off in an easterly direction, crossing a succession of hills, until they came to a small river to which the name of Kendall was given. This, they learned, flowed into the Coppermine at a spot about fifty miles from the sea. W i t h the coming of spring (1838), preparations were made for the journey down the Coppermine. On the seventh of June the explorers started from Fort Confidence, going up the Dease River along the route previously laid out, and Œ36SII

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five days later came to a portage over which they conveyed their boats to the Dismal Lakes, as the little bodies of water where the Kendall River took its source were called. Here Simpson succeeded in capturing a litter of wolf pups which he took with him in the hope of domesticating them. This proved a difficult task at first, as the little animals were sensitive to cold and would crawl under the blankets with their master to keep warm. As the water was still frozen, the boats were mounted on sledges and dragged over the surface of the ice, while occasionally their sails were hoisted to take advantage of a fair breeze. In this manner they presently overtook the two hunters who had been sent on before them to collect a supply of meat. These men had fortunately been successful, and now offered to accompany the explorers in order to lend them their assistance by supplying them with food. The following day the boats were launched on the Kendall River and, embarking in them, the men glided down the current over a series of rapids until, in a few hours, they had reached the Coppermine. The journey down this stream to the sea proved to be not entirely devoid of danger; the current was rapid, while the river itself was not yet liberated from the ice; in fact the party was held for two days on the bank, not daring to move on account of the miniature bergs that were drifting downstream, threatening destruction to the frail craft. On reaching Escape Rapid (so called by Franklin), the explorers were obliged to run it with a full cargo, for the overhanging cliffs that lined its banks precluded all possibility of landing and making a carry. Swallowed up in the vortex of the current, the boats tore along under the skillful guidance of the steersmen, barely missing the rocks concealed by the waves. At one place they were obliged, in order to avoid a rock, to slide through a passage only eight feet wide. When they finally emerged from the chasm, they quickly made their way to Œ366U

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the shore, encamping on a grassy plain spreading out from the river bank. Below this was the rapid known as Bloody Fall, which at this season of the year, when the volume of water was at its height, could only be passed by a portage around it. This laborious undertaking occupied the men some six or seven hours, at the end of which time they found themselves at the spot where Franklin had pitched camp in 1821, and Richardson had stopped five years later. Traces of their camp were still visible. After spending a few days exploring the neighborhood, Simpson set forth on his journey eastward along the shore of the Arctic Ocean. By the ninth of August he had traversed the entire distance covered by Franklin, and was encamped at a place he called Boathaven, about three miles south of Point Turnagain. Here violent gales checked him for a time, an annoying delay to a man who was planning to reach Prince Regent Inlet; but Simpson appears to have had remarkable persistence, for he at once proposed to continue on foot for ten days with a party of seven chosen spirits, while Dease was to follow with one of the boats, after properly securing the other against their return. This plan was put into effect at once. Simpson started the following day with five companions. At noon he had reached the farthest east attained by Franklin, whence he proceeded on his course to a spot, about twenty miles distant, where he encamped and buried a supply of provisions for use on the return trip. Three days later, while marching along the shore, he noticed that the ice still extended seaward for several miles. Ascending a near-by hill, he saw to his surprise "a vast and splendid prospect" before him. The sea was clear and rolled its waters at his feet, while far out to the north he saw islands rising above it. The place at which he made these observations he named Cape Alexander—it is the northernmost point of Kent Peninsula—while to the land Œ367I

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opposite, on the other side of the strait north of K e n t Peninsula, he g a v e the name of Victoria, after the new sovereign. T h e explorers, after venturing a short distance beyond Cape Alexander, decided to return, for the season was now well advanced. Y e t , according to Simpson, much had been accomplished; to the east lay an open sea " a n d the suggestion of a new r o u t e — a l o n g the southern coast of Victoria L a n d — b y which that open sea might be attained, while the shores of the continent were y e t environed b y an impenetrable barrier of ice, as they were this season." Retracing his steps, Simpson picked up his companions at B o a t h a v e n , then continued his w a y toward the Coppermine. It was on this return j o u r n e y that he gave a brilliant example of his skill as an explorer. His predecessors, Hearne, Franklin and Richardson, were unanimous in asserting that the ascent of this river above Bloody Fall was impracticable with boats, because of the violence of the current; but Simpson, aware of this, had carefully examined the stream on his w a y down, noting all its peculiarities, and had concluded from his observations that, as the force of the rapids would be greatly diminished when the volume of water had decreased, it would be possible to drag the boats upstream by means of stout ropes; moreover, from the force of the breakers along the base of the cliff, he had deduced the presence of a ledge of rock lurking beneath them, which could be used as a towpath at low water. His assumption was correct. B y dint of exertion, not unmixed with danger, the boats were dragged up the rapids and launched safely on the stream above; and on the fourteenth of September the p a r t y reached Fort Confidence, where they spent the winter. T h e following year (1839) Simpson undertook his last, and w h a t proved to be his most significant, journey. L e a v i n g the fort on the fifteenth of June, accompanied b y M r . Dease and twelve other men, he crossed over to the Coppermine, [[368]]

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and seven days later pitched c a m p below Bloody Fall, where he spent several d a y s exploring the Richardson River that flows into B a c k ' s Inlet near-by. L e a v i n g here on the third of J u l y , the travelers reached C a p e Barrow 1 0 two weeks later, and from this elevated headland Simpson, gazing to the eastward, saw the broad sweep of Coronation G u l f before him, partially free from ice, in sharp contrast to the previous year when it had been frozen over. In truth, the present summer was much warmer than that of 1838, a fact which boded well for the success of the undertaking, despite the swarms of mosquitoes that flourished in the warm air. T w o days later the party landed at B o a t h a v e n , but, as a fair wind was blowing, they continued on their w a y after a hearty supper, and reached C a p e Franklin shortly after midnight, j u s t a month earlier than the year before. T h e sea before the travelers was now free from ice as far as Victoria Island. A strong gale, however, detained them for four d a y s ; then embarking, they continued on their w a y . B e y o n d C a p e Alexander l a y T r a p Point, and rounding this they came to a group of islands, the M i n t o group, seen at a distance the year before. L a n d i n g on Melbourne, the largest of the archipelago, they made preparations to spend the night, and the next morning resumed their j o u r n e y , passing through L a b y r i n t h B a y , an indentation of the coast line so covered with islands that in steering through them all sense of direction was lost by the men, and even the Indians, so famous for their ability to find their w a y through the trackless forest, became confused. T h e coast now took a southerly sweep, swinging in a sort of semicircle, or arc, to the ninetyninth meridian, where it turned sharply northward until it reached the same latitude as Melbourne Island. I t would be an endless t a s k [writes Simpson], to a t t e m p t to e n u m e r a t e the b a y s , islands, and long, n a r r o w , p r o j e c t i n g points t h a t followed. T h e

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coast continued to stretch south and southeast, but lost its bold character, and became low and stony.

Simpson continued his way, therefore, along this coast, scattering names on the various bays and headlands that came to view. On the last day of the month he encamped at the mouth of a large river, which he named Ellice River, in longitude 1040 15'. A heavy pack of ice detained the party not far from here for five days, then they managed to work their way loose and proceed taward the east, helped by several days of fair weather, until they came to Ogden Bay, which marks the southernmost dip of the coast line. From there they headed a trifle north of east to M'Loughlin Bay, where the shore runs due north up the western side of Adelaide Peninsula to its northernmost headland, Smith Point. Arriving at this point, Simpson was met by an unexpected development. As he was sailing northward along the shore in longtitude 99 o W., he expected naturally enough, to reach Cape Felix eventually. This cape, the reader will recall, was the northernmost promontory of the land along which Commander J. C . Ross traveled when he made his farthest west on his voyage of discovery from the Victory. Had Simpson found the coast he was now exploring to extend northward in unbroken continuity, he would eventually have reached Cape Felix, thus completing the survey of the entire coast of North America. But the presence of open water ahead, when he had attained the headland he named Smith Point, changed the situation completely. As a matter of fact, the coast line, which Ross had supposed was a portion of the mainland when he journeyed to Cape Felix, was in reality that of a large island (King William Island), separated from the continent by the strait Simpson was about to explore, and which bears his name today. Between this island and Boothia lies Rae Strait. Ross, in returning from Cape Felix, had passed over this strait on the ice without hioi

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realizing its significance; hence he was under the impression that the coast he had just discovered {i.e., King William Island) was that of North America. Simpson proceeded along the southern shore of the newly discovered passage, and presently reached a place where it narrowed down to three miles in breadth. Here he saw the water opening up to the eastward. T h a t glorious sight [he says], was first beheld by myself from the top of one of the high limestone islands, and I had the satisfaction of announcing it to some of the men, who, incited b y curiosity, followed me thither. T h e j o y f u l news was soon conveyed to M r . Dease, who was with the boats at the end of the island, about half a mile off; and even the most desponding of our people forgot, for the time, the great distance we should have to return to winter-quarters, though a wish that a party had been appointed to meet us somewhere on the Great Fish River, or even at Fort Reliance, was frequently expressed. Point Seaforth—the eastern outlet of this remarkable s t r a i t — i s situated in lat. 68° 32' N . , long. 97 o 35' W .

And indeed Simpson had cause to rejoice, for he was now coming up to Point Ogle, recently discovered by Captain Back; and thus the delineation of the coast from Point Barrow, Alaska, to the mouth of the Great Fish River was an accomplished fact. Rounding Point Ogle, the explorers presently came to a small cove near Montreal Island, where they found, thanks to the directions given by one of the men who had been there with Back, a cache of provisions and ammunition. Here the party rested, and here Simpson admitted that "all the objects for which the expedition was so generously instituted were now accomplished." But both he and Dease were not yet quite satisfied, for there still remained a portion of the unexplored coast line east of the Great Fish River, and the question as to whether or not the Boothia Felix of John Ross, which the discovery of Simpson Strait seemed to indicate might be an island, was after all connected with the Œ371I

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mainland somewhere farther east. Calling together his men, he explained to them his purpose, and all volunteered to accompany him, although they had started out on this journey with the intention of going no farther than the present point. Getting into their boats, they headed for the farthest visible land, and after a passage of six hours' duration set foot ashore on a promontory to which the name of Cape Britannia was at once given. L a t e r the travelers succeeded in making land about three miles beyond this headland, then hositing sail after a vain attempt to use the oars, came e v e n t u a l l y to C a p e S e l k i r k , and managed to work their w a y for a distance of six miles beyond it. T h e following day they came to a small river three miles farther on, which they decided should be the limit of their journey. T o the little stream they gave the name of Castor and Pollux after the gallant little vessels that had borne them thither; then taking an observation they found the latitude to be 68° 28' 23" and the longitude 94 o 14'. In expressing an opinion of his discovery, Simpson falls into one grave error. H e assumes that the sea before him was the large gulf described by the Eskimos, whom Ross had questioned, as "running down to the southward till it approaches within forty miles of Repulse and Wager B a y s . " This gulf would be Committee B a y , or the southern extension of Prince Regent Inlet and the G u l f of Boothia, from which the waters before Simpson were actually separated by a wide projection of the mainland upon which, unknown to him, he was then standing. H a d he been able to push on farther to the north for a distance of about sixty miles, he would have reached Spence B a y , and linked his discoveries with those of James C . Ross. T h e chain of exploration from east to west would then have been complete. Simpson and Dease now led their men back to F o r t Confidence over the same route they had taken on their outward Œ37 T H E expeditions dispatched in 1848 failed to find any trace of Franklin's p a r t y , the A d m i r a l t y decided, two years later, to renew the search for the missing explorers. F o r some time past a feeling had been growing in high government circles that Franklin's efforts were an excellent example of the folly of attempting to find this N o r t h w e s t Passage which, after all, would be of no practical use, even if it were discovered. Y e t the business to which the A d m i r a l t y now applied itself, namely, the sending out of expeditions in search of the lost explorers, led ultimately, as indeed it was bound to in the natural course of events, to the discovery of this same passage. T h a t somewhat eccentric genius, D r . K i n g , who possessed an insight into Arctic matters second to none in his d a y , foresaw that this must be the outcome. In the absence of authentic information of the fate of the gallant band of adventurers [he predicted in 1850], the terra incognita of the North Coast of North America will not only be traced, but minutely surveyed, and the solution of the problem of centuries will engage the marked attention of the House of Commons and Legislative Assemblies in other parts of the world. T h e problem is very safe in their hands, so safe, indeed, that I venture to assert five years will not elapse before it is solved. 1

K i n g was correct in his diagnosis; the problem was solved well within that time. While the members of the A d m i r a l t y were working out their plans, D r . K i n g again renewed his request to be allowed to lead an expedition to the Polar Sea b y w a y of the Great Fish River. T h e plan of 1848, it so happened, had covered nearly every possible route to the A r c t i c , and had provided Œ415I

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for the exploration of nearly every portion of the Polar regions where Franklin was likely to be found, save the section surrounding the mouth of the Great Fish River. And now, although the officers sent out on the several ventures had reported failure, the authorities still clung with obstinate tenacity to the belief that Franklin could not have gone to the Great Fish River under any circumstances. The Arctic Council, a body composed of ten members appointed by the Admiralty to consider the question, refused to lend an ear to any suggestion to explore this part of the coast. In fact this eminent council, whose membership numbered ten of the most prominent men in Arctic exploration—barring, of course, Dr. King—were emphatic on the subject. 2 Dr. Richardson and Sir James Ross, who had been included in the council, could see no reason for exploring the mouth of the Great Fish River, while their colleague, Sir George Back, in whose expedition to this very region Dr. King had served, was the most outspoken of all. "You will be pleased, Sir," he wrote to the Secretary of the Admiralty, "to impress on my Lords Commissioners that, I wholly reject all and every idea of any attempts on the part of Sir John Franklin to send boats or detachments over the ice to any point of the mainland in the vicinity of the Great Fish River." And yet it was precisely to this spot that the followers of Franklin directed their steps when they abandoned their vessels. But the Admiralty, acting on the advice of the experts they trusted, were obdurate, and promptly refused Dr. King's offer. Human nature being what it is, the Arctic Council and Lords Commissioners were, perhaps, prejudiced against the Great Fish River as an objective, not so much because Franklin could not have gone there, but because their bete noire, Dr. King, was so vehement in his determination to have this locality explored, and so impatient with the opinions of men, more experienced than he, who ventured to Œ416]]

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disagree with him. The whole transaction is an example of the harm that tactlessness and discourtesy can do. When the year 1850 opened, the gravest apprehensions were entertained for the safety of Franklin and his men who had now been in the Arctic for nearly five years. For the past two years the untiring efforts of three separate parties, searching in different localities, had failed to find the slightest clue of them; only a vague report from the Peel River gave a faint hope that they might have escaped the rigors of the climate. Yet, all things considered, there was no reason to give up hope. Franklin might well have survived four years in the ice—Sir John Ross had done as much—and might even now be safely housed in some northern post of the Hudson's B a y Company, making ready to return to England during the coming spring. If this were the case, as everyone sincerely hoped, the affair would end well; but the Admiralty could not, of course, wait for favorable developments; action must be taken, and that promptly, for popular clamor, as well as the natural humane impulses of the members of the Board, demanded that something be done. The interest of private parties and whaling vessels had already been stimulated by the government's offer of a reward of £20,000 to anyone who should render assistance to the lost explorers, while Lady Franklin had raised her former offer to £3,000, for whalers who might leave their business and conduct a search in out-of-the-way quarters. 3 When the Admiralty met to consider plans for the coming year, Sir Francis Beaufort, the hydrographer, put forth a scheme which was presently accepted as the basis for the first expedition sent out in 1850. In building up his theory of the plight of Franklin's crews, Beaufort reasoned that there were only four ways in which the vessels could be lost: by fire, by sunken rocks, by storm, or by crushing between ice floes. In case of the first two, it was extremely unlikely that Œ417I

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both ships should be destroyed, while storms in these iceinfested waters never raised sufficient seas to overwhelm vessels of this size. Should the Erebus and the Terror have been crushed, the crews would have escaped on the ice and made for the American shore; but as no traces of them had been found on the coast, it was plausible to assume that the men, and at least one ship, were still in existence. So much time, however, had elapsed since the ill-fated expedition had sailed, that Franklin, if still alive, must now have passed beyond Melville Island, otherwise he would have managed to get word to the whalers in Baffin Bay. It was also probable that if he had reached the American coast he would have communicated with the traders in that region by means of the Eskimos. The conclusion Beaufort reached, therefore, was that Franklin was locked in the ice somewhere west of Melville Island. And now, since the weather in the vicinity of Bering Strait had been reported for the past two years as mild in comparison with climatic conditions in Baffin Bay, the proper way to rescue the lost explorers was to dispatch vessels through that strait with instructions not only to relieve Franklin's ships as they came out of the Arctic, but to sail as far as possible toward Melville Island to meet them.4 Beaufort's main contention was loyally supported by the men whom he consulted. Parry, James Ross, Richardson, Beechey and Back, though their respective ideas varied in details, felt certain of the advisability of sending an expedition through Bering Strait. The vessels selected for this venture were the two excellent ships, Enterprise and Investigator, recently commanded by Sir James Ross. All haste was made to repair them and put them in order for the coming voyage, as an early start must be made in order to get them to Bering Strait by the first of August. The remarkable staunchness of these vessels is attested by the fact that after their recent stay in the [[418]]

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Arctic, only two months were necessary to put them in condition for the long, grueling adventure before them. The expedition was placed under the command of Capt. Richard Collinson, a man of about forty years of age, bred to the sea from early youth, who had returned to England a few years before, after completing service in the Chinese War. He selected the Enterprise for his flagship. Commanding the Investigator was Commander Robert J. L. M . McClure, an excellent officer of unquestioned loyalty and determination, who had served in the Arctic before under Sir George Back on the Terrorj and in the recent enterprise of Sir James Ross as first lieutenant of the Investigator. McClure was born at Wexford in 1807, the son of an army captain who had married the daughter of the rector of that place. He received his education first at Eton, then at Sandhurst and, on graduating from the latter school in 1824, had entered the navy. Some twelve years later he served, as we have said, on the Terror, then on his return from that voyage was sent on board the Niagara, flagship of the fleet operating on the Great Lakes during the Papineau Rebellion. After this he was stationed in the West Indies for several years, when he again had the opportunity of joining the gallant band of Arctic explorers, this time under Sir James Ross. On returning from this expedition, he was considered qualified for a responsible position in any undertaking in the Polar Seas, and was therefore selected to command the Investigator. Thus he obtained a post which was to gain for him the glory of discovering the Northwest Passage. T h e Enterprise on this voyage carried sixteen officers and seventy-two men; her consort, nine officers and a crew of fifty-six. Upon receipt of the notice of his appointment, Collinson left immediately for London, where he was welcomed with open arms by Sir Francis Beaufort, who entertained the highest opinion of his abilities. In presenting him with the Œ419Î

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official instructions on January 15, 1850, Beaufort took occasion to point out to the captain that he considered the present venture as a child of his own. "Its object [is]," as he put it, "a noble effort of national humanity; its means as perfect as we have had time and wit to make them; its rewards the glowing sympathy of every man, woman and child in the country, and indeed in all countries." Glancing at his orders, Collinson found that he was to take his fleet to the Strait of Magellan, where a steam vessel would be awaiting him to tow his ships through that difficult passage. Proceeding then to the Hawaiian Islands, he would there in all probability find additional instructions; but if these did not arrive he was to go at once to Bering Strait. Here, it was hoped, he would pick up the Plover, and possibly the Herald, which vessels were to assist him with such men and supplies as he might require. After this he was to begin the search, the details of which were left to his discretion. "We leave it to your judgment and discretion," runs the order, "as to the course to be pursued after passing Point Barrow, and on entering the ice; and you will be materially assisted in this respect by what you will learn from Captain Kellett, if he should be fallen in with at the Sandwich Islands, as well as from the observations of Sir E. Parry and Captain Beechey contained in the memoranda, of which we send you copies."5 The Board evidently felt they had an officer whom they could trust. Collinson and McClure sailed from the Thames on the twentieth of January, and after a brief stop at Plymouth to caulk a few seams that had been opened up by the gales of the Channel, they weighed anchor and turned their prows toward the Strait of Magellan. Although they had five months in which to reach Bering Strait, there was no time for loitering, as the ships, made heavy by reinforced planking, and loaded down in the water by a large supply of stores Œ420]]

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that filled the holds and covered the decks, were poor sailers. It was the middle of April before they reached the Strait of Magellan, where they found the tug waiting to take them through the rocks and shoals that make this passage hazardous. On reaching the Pacific, the vessels were towed well out to sea, for a strong wind was blowing, and there cast off. As the gale increased, the ships were obliged to shift for themselves, for it was no longer possible to keep them together; each therefore struck out on her own course. The Investigator was blown southwestward for many days before the storm spent its fury; and it was not until the last day of April that she was able to set a course for Honolulu, the next rendezvous of the fleet. But by now the gale had driven the ships so far apart that they were destined never to meet again. We shall therefore confine ourselves at this point to the voyage of Commander McClure in the Investigator.e It was a long pull to Honolulu across the limitless expanse of waters that make up the Pacific Ocean, so that two whole months elapsed from the time McClure had set his course before he sighted Hawaii. On reaching the beautiful harbor of the capital of the Sandwich Islands, the explorer dropped anchor and allowed his crew to refresh themselves on shore after the tedious experience of the last five months. Meanwhile he secured a fresh supply of provisions, storing them on board with the help of the crew from an English brig lying alongside. The work was quickly done, for time was getting short, and McClure was anxious to get to Bering Strait, where, as he learned in Honolulu, the Enterprise had already gone. When the stores were all safely on board, and the crew in better spirits after their brief rest in the pleasant tropical climate, the commander headed his vessel for the Aleutian Islands, intending to sail directly for the strait instead of taking the usual route by the Asiatic coast. Sailing under a fair wind, much of the time through thick fogs,

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he made an excellent run to Kotzebue Sound, arriving there in four weeks after leaving the Hawaiian Islands. Here he found, much to his relief, the Plover, which for some time had been keeping watch in this part of the globe for the appearance of Franklin's men, being visited in the summer by the Herald, which acted as a sort of relief ship. Captain Moore, who at once came on board the Investigator, informed McClure that he had seen nothing of the Enterprise, and also told him that the ice about Wainwright Inlet was so densely packed as to prevent all navigation to the northeast. Y e t McClure understood the rapid changes to which icefloes are subjected, thanks to his previous experience in the Arctic, and felt no discouragement at the unpromising outlook; on the contrary, he determined to push forward at once in the hope of finding an opening. A f t e r passing C a p e Lisburne [he wrote the Admiralty in informing them of his plans for prosecuting the work], it is m y intention to keep in the open water, which, from the different reports that I have read, appears, about this season of the year, to make between the American Coast and the main pack, as far to the eastward as the 130th meridian, unless a favourable opening should earlier appear in the ice, which would lead me to infer that I might push more directly for B a n k s Land, which I think is of the utmost importance to thoroughly examine. In the event of thus far succeeding, and the season continuing favourable for further operations, it would be m y anxious desire to get to the northward of Melville Island, and resume our search along its shores, and the islands adjacent, as long as the navigation can be carried on, and then secure for the winter in the most eligible position which offers.

This done, McClure intended to send out parties the following spring to explore the neighborhood; then when the ice broke up, to sail eastward and examine the Wellington Channel and Jones Sound. On the other hand, if his ship became inextricably beset by the ice, he would abandon her and make his way with boats and sledges to Pond's B a y , Port Leopold or the Mackenzie River. Œ4«D

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Preparations were now made to put the Investigator in condition for her battle with the ice. The crow's nest was sent up to the masthead, ready for the lookout; lines and ice anchors were arranged on the deck; and various implements, such as saws and ice chisels, were laid out where they could easily be reached. On the last day of August McClure set sail and was soon abreast of Cape Lisburne, where he had the good fortune to speak the Herald. Captain Kellett, who outranked the commander of the Investigatory was at first inclined to order McClure to await the coming of Collinson, as he felt that this officer might arrive at any moment; but the explorer, feeling the value of every hour that slipped by, at last secured Kellett's reluctant consent to proceed on his journey. As the Investigator sailed off on her memorable journey, Kellett hoisted the signal: "Had you better not wait forty-eight hours?" But McClure, aware of the importance of his mission, answered: "Important duty. Cannot upon my own responsibility." In a few hours the Herald was out of sight. That part of the Arctic which McClure's men were about to penetrate presents a different problem from any which explorers had hitherto faced. North of the lane of water which washes the American coast in the summer lies an immense ice field, extending northward to the Pole and beyond it. This ice is the accumulation of years, perhaps of centuries, compared to which the ice seen in the direction of Baffin Bay is insignificant. Such conditions are not due to more intense cold here than in other parts of the Arctic, but to an absence of contact with the warm waters of the Pacific and the Atlantic and with the fresh-water streams flowing down in summer from the land. The ice field in this part of the world is impenetrable; no vessel can force its way through it. All this, of course, was not clearly understood by McClure, who hoped to find a passage through the I M

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mass he knew lay to the north of him, a passage that would take him to Melville Island; and it was, perhaps, well that he had no conception of the difficulties ahead of him, or he might never have succeeded in discovering the Northwest Passage. Driving his vessel northward as much as possible, McClure was soon brought to realize that he was running into a blind lead, so he at once returned to the coast with the intention of clinging to it until he saw a good opportunity to set a course for Banks Land. On rounding Point Barrow, the ship was headed to the east; and now began what the crew firmly believed was to be the voyage home, after having spent so many weary months rounding the southernmost point of the American continent and sailing northward through the Pacific. A full month of the summer season still lay before the explorers, and they had already penetrated farther into the Arctic Ocean on this course than any ship up to this time. Keeping a watchful eye open for a possible lead that would disclose a way to Melville Island, McClure navigated his ship along the coast, for he now realized what would happen to his expedition if he became entangled in the great ice field. At Point Pitt he came in touch with a tribe of Eskimos, and stopped in their neighborhood to erect a cairn and deposit a notice of the results of the expedition thus far. From these natives McClure learned of the boat journey of Lieutenant Pullen along this shore the previous year, but he obtained no news of the Erebus and the Terror. Continuing on her course, the Investigator worked her way along the coast, taking frequent soundings as she went, and occasionally standing northward to the ice barrier, which even at its edge was thirty or forty feet thick, in the hope of locating an opening. Upon questioning the natives as to what lay to the north, McClure invariably met with the reply that they knew of no lands out there, and that they [[424]]

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had never been able to penetrate northward for more than thirty miles from the shore. On the nineteenth of August the Investigator reached the estuary of the Mackenzie. Here McClure saw open water to the north, and tempted by a heavy swell, which seemed to indicate a sea free of ice, he set a course for Banks Land. As the vessel plowed her way through the sea under a westerly breeze, it soon became evident that, despite a promising run of ninety miles from the coast, the explorers had after all found their way into a cul-de-sac, from which escape was possible only by returning southward. The run back proved to be an arduous one, as the wind was ahead and blowing strong, compelling the ship to sail under double-reefed topsails. On coming in sight of the mainland, McClure made for Point Warren on the eastern shore of the Mackenzie, where he attempted to induce some Eskimos to take a message for him to the nearest post of the Hudson's Bay Company; but they proved refractory, and the plan was perforce abandoned. It was now high time to think of winter quarters, for the season was on the wane. During his entire voyage along the coast, the commander had failed to locate a single harbor into which he could work his vessel. Liverpool Bay, east of the Mackenzie, was considered, but proved too shallow, and there was nothing to do but to push on in the hope of locating a suitable wintering place farther to the eastward. On the last day of the month the party came abreast of Cape Bathurst. Here the commander made a final effort to communicate with the Hudson's Bay Company by intrusting a letter to an Eskimo tribe encamped along the shore, whose members showed themselves more tractable than those just encountered. On inquiring from these natives about the possibilities of navigation to the north, McClure found that they, like their fellow tribesmen farther west, knew not if I M

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sea or land lay in that direction; they referred to it as the "Land of the White Bear," a place which they appeared to regard with a feeling akin to terror. There was, therefore, nothing to do but continue the journey to the eastward in the hope of better luck. Fortunately, on reaching Cape Parry, McClure saw to the northeast a bold, high headland, evidently unknown, since he could find no trace of it on his charts. As he had been fortunate thus far in following the open water along the shore, he came to the conclusion that the presence of this land, lying in the direction of Melville Island, argued the presence of a channel which might prove of service the following year. Anxious to take possession of this discovery, he at once sailed across the intervening water and landed on a promontory which he named Nelson Head, while to the land he gave the name of Baring Island. It was, in fact, the southern end of Banks Land, or Banks Island, as it is now called. Taking his stand upon the headland, which rose to a height of a thousand feet above sea level the commander turned his gaze to the north and there he saw the open sea extending for a distance of forty miles. Only a fair wind was needed to speed him on his way. The course now taken by McClure was one which carried him in a northeasterly direction into a long, narrow channel separating Banks Island from the great Victoria Island whose southern shore had already been explored by Dr. Rae. To this channel he gave the name of Prince of Wales Strait. Here indeed was an unexplored region. As he proceeded up into the passage, a suspicion gradually dawned upon him that the land he had discovered was joined with Banks Land; but when a shore line rose on his starboard bow, this pleasant belief was chilled by the fear that he might be heading into a narrow gulf with no egress into Barrow Strait. Nevertheless, the Investigator held her course [[4*6]]

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through fogs and squalls, keeping herself midway between the two shores, which were roughly thirty miles apart. The strait, however, soon narrowed considerably. The land to the east, which McClure called Albert Land, in ignorance of its true name, showed a mountain range far in the interior, interspersed with peaks of a volcanic nature. Excitement was now at fever pitch among the crew, as the solution of the century-old problem seemed within grasp, for the commander had found his position only sixty miles from Melville Sound, which connects with Barrow Strait. I cannot [he says], describe m y anxious feelings. C a n it be possible that this water communicates with B a r r o w ' s Strait, and shall p r o v e to be the long-sought N o r t h - w e s t Passage? C a n it be that so h u m b l e a creature as I am will be permitted to perform w h a t has baffled the talented and wise for hundreds of years? B u t all praise be ascribed to H i m w h o h a t h conducted us so far in s a f e t y . His w a y s are not our w a y s , or the means that H e uses to accomplish H i s ends within our comprehension. T h e wisdom of the world is foolishness w i t h H i m .

Unfortunately for further progress at this time, the ship was caught upon the eastern shore of the strait, with a gale from the west piling up the ice about her. There was nothing for the eager explorers to do but to await developments patiently, hoping against hope that the ice would break up. But the season was advancing rapidly every d a y — i t was now the middle of September—and after working his way northward to within thirty miles of Melville Sound (latitude 73 o io') McClure decided to halt and winter in the pack. This decision was a bold one, yet by no means injudicious under the circumstances. T h e alternative was to retrace his steps to the American coast in the hope of finding a safe harbor; but this, in the commander's opinion, was inadvisable, for the simple reason that he had encountered no suitable wintering place on his cruise along the shore; moreover, he disliked relinquishing ground which he had gained with so much labor. I427I

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Scarcely had this decision been reached when winter set in with a vengeance, the mercury sinking lower and lower every d a y , and ice forming about the vessel in ever-increasing quantities. C a u g h t in the pack, the Investigator, to the grave concern of her officers, began to drift southward, thus losing much of her hard-won ground. Despite all efforts on the part of her crew, who put out all her anchors, the ship was carried back past the little Princess R o y a l Island that lies half w a y through the strait, until she came to a stop thirty miles south of her farthest north. Fortunately, as preparations were being made to house her for the winter, a wind sprang up from the south, setting the entire field of ice in motion. B a c k again went the Investigatory but this time she was carried toward the cliffs of Princess R o y a l Island, towering four hundred feet above the sea. T h e destruction of the little vessel now seemed imminent, for the ice pack held her tenaciously in its grip and no power could stop the drift of the immense field. T h e crew were called to quarters, and the boats made ready for launching with provisions and supplies hastily tumbled into them; but when within five hundred yards of the shore a sudden turn in the direction of the ice field carried her past the danger to safety on the other side of the island. A n d here on the last d a y of September the ship became stationary in latitude 7 1 ° 50', where her crew put her u p for the winter. Winter quarters being now established, Commander M c C l u r e decided not to wait for the coming of spring before he settled the burning question of the passage, but to set forth on a j o u r n e y over the ice, and a t t e m p t to reach Melville Sound. In this manner he could determine whether or not the strait led to the sound, and thus secure a knowledge that would be of use to him in laying plans for the following year. H e therefore intrusted the ship to his lieutenant, Haswell, in order to lead this important expedition in person. T h e [ M

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traveling party was made up of six men under the master, Court, who carried their supplies with them on a sledge. Starting out on the twenty-first of October, they proceeded for a while under the escort of a fatigue party commanded by Dr. Armstrong, physician of the expedition, and Wynniatt. Dr. Armstrong, besides his professional duties, found time to compile an interesting personal narrative of the Investigator s voyage. The journey proved a hard one; the daily allowance of food was small, and the limited supply of fuel was rationed out each day in a quantity barely sufficient for the wants of the men. A pint of tepid water with a little oatmeal thrown in was the supper on the first day, after consuming which the men turned in and slept the sleep of exhaustion. The expedition proceeded along the western side of the strait, plodding painfully over the ice, and presently reached a smooth ice field where they met with difficult marching conditions. A heavy snow had fallen and soaked up the sea water beneath it in such a manner as to render it as tenacious as clay. To make matters worse, the exertion of plodding through this morass caused the men to perspire freely despite the excessive cold, and this exercise brought on an excessive thirst which could not be assuaged by the usual process of melting snow, since the snow beneath their feet was a slush of salt water, thus compelling them to draw on the limited supply of fresh water they had brought with them. At noon a meal of cold water and frozen pemmican was served, and with this wretched fare the explorers were obliged to recruit their strength for the toil of the afternoon. At night the tent was pitched, and after a miserable supper the men whiled away the moments of the evening by smoking and by making repairs to their clothing, until they fell asleep. After marching in this manner for three days, they saw the eastern shore of the strait fall away to the eastward, Œ429I

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while the western shore continued its northerly trend. It was evident, then, that Melville Sound was opening before them. Pausing a moment to survey the scene the commander saw to the north a hill, distant about twelve miles, which might indeed be a cape from whose summit the sea could be seen. All hands now manned the drag ropes of the sledge with a will, but as the cape proved to be nearly thirty miles away, it was not until the following day that they reached it. Then, on approaching the point, they saw the wonderful eternal ice described by Parry on his voyage through Melville Sound. Says Sherard Osborn, editor of McClure's narrative: "Great hills and dales of blue crystalline sea-ice rolled on before them in the direction of Melville Island; and it required more than ordinary sanguineness of disposition to suppose they ever should navigate the 'old Investigator' through such a sea; yet, to have heard the party talk the feat would have appeared certain of accomplishment,— all things seemed possible to men who had already mastered so much." With such a discovery before them we can imagine with what impatience the explorers threw themselves down to snatch a few moments of sleep before resuming their labors the following day. Early in the morning of the twentyseventh of October, before dawn, Commander McClure and Court hastened to the summit of a small hilll about six hundred feet high, where they could see for a distance of forty or fifty miles and thus make certain of the conformation of the land and sea about them. As the sun rose [writes Osborn in describing the momentous occasion], the panorama slowly unveiled itself. First the land called after H. R. H. Prince Albert showed out on an easterly bearing; and from a point since named after the late Sir Robert Peel, it evidently turned away to the east, and formed the northern entrance of the channel upon that side. The coast of Banks Land terminated about twelve miles farther than where the party stood; and thence it turned away to the north-west,

[kioj]

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forming the northern coast of that land, the loom of which had been so correctly reported and so well placed by Sir Edward Parry's expedition thirty-odd years before. Away to the north, and across the entrance of Prince of Wales Strait, lay the frozen waters of Barrow's or, as it is now called, Melville Strait [or Melville Sound]; and, raised as they were at an altitude of 600 feet above its level, the eyesight embraced a distance which precluded the possibility of any land lying in that direction between them and Melville Island. The North-west Passage was discovered! All doubt as to the water-communication between the two great oceans was removed; and it now alone remained for Captain McClure, his officers and men, to perfect the work by traveling the few thousand miles of known ground between them and their homes. The feelings of Captain M'Clure and his companions may be easily understood when we remember what they had gone through to earn this success, and how the hand of the All-powerful had borne them through no ordinary dangers in their gallant efforts; but no arrogant self-estimation formed part of the crowd of tumultuous feelings which made their hearts beat so high, and never from the lips of man burst a more fervent Thank God! than now from those of that little company. T o the headland from which this observation was made was given the name of Cape Lord John Russell; its latitude was ascertained as 7 3 o 3 0 ' 39", its longitude, 1 1 4 0 3 9 ' W . T o celebrate the discovery of the passage, a bonfire was built and an extra glass of grog served out to the men. T h e year 1850 now drew to a close with the Investigator s company safely housed for the winter within Prince of Wales Strait. Never before in the history of Arctic exploration, save perhaps on Parry's first voyage, had an expedition accomplished so much in a single season. It had come from the warm waters of the Pacific to a point midway between Bering Strait and Baffin B a y , and had come within an ace of connecting its discoveries with those of Sir Edward Parry. But the principal object of the undertaking was not one of discovery, but of search for the missing Franklin and his party; and Commander McClure, not unmindful of this, sent forth search parties as soon as the new year began to Œ431I

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break up the cold of the past winter. Three sledge parties were organized in the month of April and sent out in different directions. One, under Lieutenant Haswell, was dispatched on a southeasterly course to follow the coast of Prince A l b e r t L a n d (Victoria Island) to Dolphin and Union Strait; the second, under Lieutenant Creswell, went in the opposite direction to examine the shore line of B a n k s Island; the third, commanded b y M r . W y n n i a t t , was ordered to proceed northeasterly to C a p e Walker. While these excursions added much to the geographical knowledge of the regions they traversed, they failed in their ultimate purpose, and the fate of Franklin's men remained as much a mystery as before. B y the middle of July (1851) sufficient open water appeared to permit M c C l u r e to continue his journey. T h e Investigator was cast off from her winter moorings and headed northward through the strait. A t first her commander endeavored to reach the western side of the channel; but while engaged in this maneuver the vessel became caught in the pack ice, and was forced to return to the opposite shore, where an effort was made to carry her northward to the open sea. T h i s , however, proved abortive, for the ice presently closed in, seizing the vessel in its iron grip and bearing her, fortunately, toward Melville Sound, though at the rate of only two miles a d a y , until the pressure of the pack finally brought her to a standstill at a distance of only twenty-five miles from her objective. Such a check was, indeed, exasperating, and one can imagine the feelings of the crew on seeing themselves thus stopped, when success was almost within their grasp. If only they could get their ship into the pack covering the sound, she might then drift eastward through Barrow Strait into Baffin B a y as Sir James Ross had done. B u t this proved impossible; the y o u n g ice was beginning to form, giving the explorers warning that Œ4 3*D

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they must at once escape from the strait unless they were prepared to spend another winter in the same place. When McClure became convinced that such was the case, his mind was made up at once; he would sail southward through the strait by the same route he had taken in ascending it the previous year, and seek a passage into Melville Sound by sailing up the western side of Banks Island. The ship was now put about and headed south. By good fortune the ice cleared, and striking open water she ran briskly along for a distance of one hundred miles, rounded Nelson Head, and stood to the northward along the opposite shore of Banks Island, borne along by a spanking breeze. On the eighteenth of August, two days after turning back in Prince of Wales Strait, McClure found that he had covered three hundred miles without once being checked by ice, an extraordinary feat in the Polar Sea. By noon of the following day the ship had come almost to the seventy-fourth parallel, and the commander began to count on passing to the north of Melville Island, instead of through Melville Sound, as he knew the latter to be choked with ice, while from present indications the sea to the north seemed clear. This would have taken him into unexplored territory, but he hoped to find some passage leading eastward into Baffin Bay that connected with the waters off Banks Island. W7hile he was thus sailing calmly through the open sea, there suddenly appeared ahead of him a mighty wall of ice, rising in some places to a height of a hundred feet, that closed in on the coast, leaving only a narrow passage through which the vessel could force her way. The plight of the Investigator was now indeed alarming; retreat was well-nigh impossible, for it would be difficult to bring her about in this narrow channel; and there was, therefore, nothing to do but to push forward and trust to finding an opening. But this maneuver soon came to an end when they perceived that Ï4 33Ì

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the vessel was beset in a place whence there could be no escape that year. As the truth of the situation dawned upon McClure, he set about to look for a place where he could put up his ship for the winter. The coast was a barren one, singularly devoid of suitable harbors; but by good fortune a strong southerly gale arose, bringing with it a warm current of air which drove the ice pack from the shore, opening a lane through which the Investigator was able to make her way slowly to the northward. In order to reach this newly formed channel, it was necessary to free the ship from the surrounding ice; saws, chisels and hawsers were applied to the work, but proved inadequate, and as a last resort charges of powder were inserted in the ice to blast the vessel free from her shackles. Once loosened, the Investigator struggled along surrounded by the threatening pack, grinding in huge masses about her, until at last open water appeared, and she managed once more to sail in comparative safety. In this fashion McClure continued his journey for about a week, rounding the northernmost point of Banks Island, and finding himself at last in the channel known today by his name. It seemed now that the Investigator could not fail to make the passage and sail safely into the Atlantic, for she had reached the land seen by Parry in the distance when he turned back from his farthest west; only a few miles separated the explorers from Melville Island to the north. But, as in the case of the passage through Prince of Wales Strait, the Arctic was yet unwilling to surrender in the struggle she had waged against man for so many generations. As the Investigator glided along the coast, her commander described a providential shelter in the shape of a large bay. To the east of this was a huge ice field, but, as the season was now well advanced, he saw the impossibility of entering it and drifting with it into Lancaster Sound. The bay, howÍU.34H

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ever, offered an ideal wintering place, and it was with no small feeling of gratitude to Heaven for having thus provided a secure spot so convenient for the accomplishment of his purpose that he called the place M e r c y B a y . N o w that the season was over, the crew set about their usual task of making themselves comfortable for the winter. T h e land about them offered a fair amount of game to v a r y their diet, thus contributing in a large degree to the excellent health which they then enjoyed. N o events of any particular importance took place during the long winter night, the ship's company keeping themselves amused as best they could, the principal recreation being hunting. When April (1852) came, the temperature had risen enough to permit of a prolonged sledge journey, and M c C l u r e decided to attempt to reach Melville Island in the hope of finding some trace of the expedition which had left England two years before to follow the tracks of Franklin, and to unearth, perhaps, a depot of provisions. This venture in search of Franklin had been composed of a fleet of four ships: the Resolute, flagship, under the command of C a p t . Horatio T . Austin, the leader of the expedition; the Assistance, Captain Erasmus Ommanney; and two steamers, the Pioneer and the Intrepid. McClure's journey to Winter Harbour on Melville Island took two weeks, owing to a sudden drop in the temperature which made traveling difficult; but, as though to compensate for the hardships, the commander, though he did not find there any supplies, discovered a note left on June 6, 1851, by Lieutenant M c C l i n t o c k , who had come there by sledge from his ship, the Assistance, then anchored off Griffith's Island. From this notice M c C l u r e learned that no ship would be found at Winter Harbour; and this knowledge was not without value, for he had planned to look in here for aid should he be obliged to abandon his vessel. fossi

MCCLURE'SVOYAGE

As summer came on, McClure found that the Arctic climate was beginning to take its toll on the health of his men. Lack of fresh vegetables was bringing on symptoms of incipient scurvey. Moreover, the crew were in a rather depressed mental state, as the news brought back from Winter Harbour showed that they must expect no succor this year, and they were all anxious to escape another winter in the Arctic. The months of May and June brought little promise of an early release from the ice; but in the middle of July evidences of open water were seen in the strait, and the ice about the ship showed signs of loosening. The sails were at once bent on the yards, and everything made ready for an early start. A beacon was erected on the shore, beneath which was buried a cylinder, containing an account of the Investigator s voyage and the plans of her commander for the future. But expectations were in vain. Before the ship could be gotten under way, the ice closed in, the temperature fell, and within a few days it became evident that another winter must be spent in Mercy Bay. The problem of what to do now became a serious one. If all remained on board till the following year and there should then occur a repetition of what had just taken place, the crew would face starvation should they attempt to stay through still another winter. Yet the commander was loathe to abandon his ship the next year, for she was sound and had done her part so bravely thus far. As a compromise he decided to keep with him thirty men to spend a fourth winter, should that be necessary, while he sent the rest of his crew in two parties to make their way as best they could, one to the Mackenzie River, the other to Lancaster Sound. Thus the latter party could obtain assistance for the thirty men remaining behind, should these men be obliged later to abandon the Investigator. This problem settled, the explorers made preparations to spend another winter. Rations, which Í43 6Ï

MCCLURE'S

VOYAGE

up to this time had been ample, were reduced to two-thirds of the normal quantity, and the men began to feel the first pinch of hunger. As time went on, however, they became accustomed to the new diet, and their health showed no signs of deterioration. Meanwhile, let us leave our friends, more or less comfortably housed, and return to England to trace the coming of the expedition that was destined to relieve them. The year 1850 proved a momentous one in the history of the search for Sir John Franklin. During the six months following the departure of Collinson and McClure no less than five other distinct expeditions were sent out, financed by the British government and by private individuals and organizations. It was, indeed, the high-water mark of the search. We have already mentioned the principal undertaking, commanded by Captain Austin. In addition to this Captains Penny and Stewart were dispatched in command, of the Lady Franklin and the Sophia; an American capitalist, Henry Grinnell of New York, financed an expedition of two vessels, the Advance and the Rescue under Lieutenant De Haven; the venerable Sir John Ross, now seventy-three three years of age, set out in the Felix and spent a winter in the Arctic; while Lady Franklin herself fitted out the Prince Albert, and sent her forth under Captain Forsyth. These expeditions were, of course, unsuccessful, though Captain Ommanney discovered at Point Riley, a headland which forms the eastern side of the southern entrance to Wellington Channel, traces of the winter encampment of Franklin's men, while Captain Penny found on Beechey Island, an island which with Point Riley forms the bay where the expedition wintered, the graves and headstones of three members of Franklin's crews. To this bay the name of Erebus was given. The sum total, then, of the knowledge garnered by the expeditions of 1850 was the discovery of the spot I437]]

MCCLURE'S

VOYAGE

where Franklin had spent the winter of 1845-46, but nothing was found there that would give a clue to the direction he had taken the following summer. The failure of all expeditions up to date was gradually forcing upon the Admiralty the painful conclusion that Franklin's men were no longer living, and that all efforts to rescue them would be fruitless. Had the matter been left to the Lords Commissioners, they might possibly have allowed it to rest, conscious that they had done all in their power. B u t L a d y Franklin refused to give up hope. With a confidence born of ardent desire, she believed that her husband was yet alive, and besieged the Admiralty with entreaties to take up the search again; and in this she was seconded by influential persons. The Admiralty referred the matter to the Arctic Council, and received from this eminent body a recommendation to continue the search, but with the suggestion that it be directed up the Wellington Channel, as the former expeditions had given fairly conclusive evidence—at least it was so believed—that Franklin would not be found in the direction of Melville Island. B u t a new incentive to prosecute the search in the direction of Melville Island had now been injected into the proceedings by the feeling that it was time to keep an eye open for the ships of Collinson and McClure. The father of Lieutenant Creswell of the Investigator, wrote the Secretary of the Admiralty 7 to explain his reasons for believing in the strong probability of the presence of the expedition in this locality. Commander McClure, he pointed out, had assured Captain Kellett that he would use every effort to reach Melville Island if he should be obliged to abandon his ship. The Investigatory according to the last news of her, had passed Point Barrow in August, 1850, and the Enterprise had done the same the following year. It was, therfore, high time to look for them somewhere in the neighborhood of Melville Œ438I

MCCLURE'S

VOYAGE

Island. For this reason Mr. Creswell suggested a division of the proposed expedition, which would send one detachment to Winter Harbour. Struck by the reasonableness of this suggestion, the Admiralty immediately decided to embody the plan in their instructions to Capt. Sir Edward Belcher, who had been chosen to command the coming expedition. The fleet now brought together to conduct the search for Franklin, Collinson and McClure consisted of the vessels previously sent out under Captain Austin, to which was added a depot ship, the North Star. Belcher was to command the Assistance, Henry Kellett (late of the Herald) the Resolute > Sherard Osborn the Pioneer, and Francis L. McClintock the Intrepid. The plan of the undertaking was simple enough: the fleet was to proceed to Beechey Island where the North Star (Captain Pullen) was to be left as a general depot; then the forces were to divide, one party going up the Wellington Channel, the other continuing on to Winter Harbour, or failing that, to Byam Martin Island, just east of Melville Island, where provisions were to be cached for the benefit of Collinson and McClure. The vessels set sail on April 15, 1852, and made their way to Beechey Island without mishap. Here the North Star was set up for the winter, while the rest of the expedition was divided in accordance with the original plan. Captain Belcher, as leader of the expedition, took charge of the business of exploring the Wellington Channel, for this was considered the principal object of the undertaking, while he detailed Captain Kellett to lead the expedition to the west. With Belcher's adventures we shall not concern ourselves, as they do not fall into our story; but we shall trace the course of the party under Captain Kellett in their search for Commander McClure. Ì439Ì

MCCLURE'S

VOYAGE

Captain Kellett left Beechey Island on the fifteenth of August in the Resolute, towed by the steamer Intrepid, and directed his course to Winter Harbour. 8 In his party were Commander McClintock, Lieutenant Mecham, Lieutenant Pirn and Dr. Domville. Conditions were not favorable for navigation, and the month was drawing to a close before they reached Byam Martin Island. Here a better situation awaited them; the ice pack had eased off leaving a passage, and after a few hours' sailing Melville Island came in sight. A week later the ships were off Dealy Island in Bridport Inlet, and here Kellett began preparations for spending the winter, as the young ice which was forming gave proof that he could not reach Winter Harbour that year. While the crews were occupied in putting the vessels in shape to withstand the coming season, the commander dispatched detachments to cache provisions in various places for the benefit of the expeditions he planned to send out the following year. McClintock was sent northward to Hecla and Griper Bay, and Pim to Cape Providence on Dundas Peninsula to prepare for the drive to Banks Island. A third division, under Lieutenant Mecham, however, made a valuable discovery. This party had been ordered to proceed westward from Winter Harbour to Liddon Gulf, where a depot was to be established as headquarters for the exploration of the southwestern portion of Melville Island. On returning from the gulf, Mecham chanced to discover, near the entrance to the Harbour, the block of sandstone upon which Parry had engraved the record of his visit. While examining the stone Mecham found beside it the report left there five months before by Commander McClure. This document consisted of a portion of McClure's journal, stating what had been accomplished thus far and giving an outline of his plans. The commander expressed his intention of returning to England by way of Melville Island, unless carried [[44°I

MCCLURE'S

VOYAGE

westward by the ice pack, and suggested that a depot of provisions at Winter Harbour would be the best method of relieving his crew. One can well imagine with what j o y this document was received by Captain Kellett. Here, within a few miles of his headquarters, was the wintering place of the Investigator, and for all he knew she might still be there, her men in need of assistance. T o start at once for Mercy Bay was Kellett's first impulse; but on second thought he saw the impossibility of reaching the place before the strait had frozen over. He therefore postponed his undertaking until the following March, a time when the weather would be mild enough to permit travel, and yet not so warm as to break up the ice. He had also another reason for reaching Mercy Bay as soon as possible, namely, a fear that McClure might abandon his ship at the earliest opportunity. T h e party detailed for the rescue of the Investigator was placed under Lieutenant Pim. While Captain Kellett was busy planning the expeditions for the coming spring, McClure's men were living the usual monotonous existence of Arctic explorers, hibernating in their winter quarters, all unconscious of the preparations that were being made for their rescue. As the winter wore on and the spring of 1853 came in, the commander noticed with some alarm a sudden increase of physical incapacity among the members of his crew. T h e dampness of the lower deck appeared to have offset the advantages derived from the generous supply of fresh meat furnished by the herds of roving deer, so that by the middle of February one-third of the men were on the sick list. This condition compelled the explorer to prepare his men for the homeward voyage as soon as possible. On the third of March the parties were told off: Lieutenant Haswell was given charge of the one going by way of Griffith Island to Lancaster Sound, while to Lieutenant Creswell was intrusted the other, which was to Œ441I

MCCLURE'S

VOYAGE

proceed to Princess Royal Island, where a boat had been cached the previous year, and thence to the American coast. Thirty men were selected to return home, fifteen in each party, and they were given a full allowance of food. The day set for the departure was the fifteenth of April, and by the end of March active work was begun to prepare the sledges for the coming journeys. Stores of provisions were collected from the supplies at hand, while those who were to be left behind occupied much of their time in writing letters which their companions were to take back to England. When preparations were completed, and everyone was ready to carry out his part of the work, there came suddenly an unexpected event which was to change the entire plan and insure the safe return of all on board. Commander McClure thus describes the incident, which took place on the sixth of April: While walking near the ship, in conversation with the first lieutenant upon the subject of digging a grave for the man who died yesterday, and discussing how we could cut a grave in the ground whilst it was so hardly frozen—a subject naturally sad and depressing—we perceived a figure walking rapidly towards us from the rough ice at the entrance of the bay. From his pace and gestures we both naturally supposed at first that he was some one of our party pursued by a bear, but as we approached him doubts rose as to who it could be. He was certainly unlike any of our men; but recollecting that it was possible some one might be trying a new travelling dress, preparatory to the departure of our sledges, and certain that no one else was near, we continued to advance. When within about two hundred yards of us, this strange figure threw up his arms, and made gesticulations resembling those used by Esquimaux, besides shouting, at the top of his voice, words which, from the winds and the intense excitement of the moment, sounded like a wild screech; and this brought us both fairly to a stand-still. The stranger came quietly on, and we saw that his face was as black as ebony, and really at the moment we might be pardoned for wondering whether he was a denizen of this or the other world, and had be but given us a glimpse of a tail or a cloven hoof, we should assuredly have taken to

Œ44 m , 247, 254, 255, 263, 265,273,286, 352, 360, 381, 418, 420 Beechey Island, 94, 437, 439, 440, 447, 465, 471, 474, 475, 485 Belanger (voyageur), 20i, 202, 206, 207, 209 Belcher, Edward, 439, 449, 457, 459, 466, 474, 486 Bellot Strait, 121, 238, 281, 302, 381, 467, 486 Bering Strait, 9, 21, 22, 3 1 , 32, 44, 45, 84, 90, 115, 153, 214, 238, 247, 273,

Hi*?!

INDEX 287, 3 j o , 377-79, 381, 385-87, 39092, 395, 406, 418, 420, 431, 444, 452, 454, 457, 474, 498, 504, 509 Beverley, C. J . , 62, 68, 84, 105, 242 Blossom (ship), see Ships and boats Blue Hills, 108, n o , 1 1 1 Booth, Felix, 70, 292-95, 297, 333-35, 341 Boothia, Isthmus of, 308, 3 1 1 , 335, 397 Boothia Peninsula, 91, 281, 302, 335, 35°, 352, 360, 361, 370, 371, 381, 393, 457, 467, 486, 487, 492, 493 Buchan, David, 37, 42-57, 83, 85, 164 Bushnan, John, 84, 130, 1 3 1 , 140, 150, 152 Byam Martin, Cape, see Capes Byam Martin Island, 96-98, i n , 439, 440, 448 Cabot, John, 3, 4, 481, 510 Capes (see also Points) Alexander, 367-69, 404, 4 1 1 Barrow, 193, 369 Bathurst, 281, 287, 395, 402, 409, 410, 425, 506 Byam Martin, 67, 69, 87, 299 Clarence, 64, 65 Dudley Digges, 60, 63, 485 Garry, 236, 297, 301, 302 Herschel, 470, 471, 475, 477 Isabella, 308, 3 1 1 , 3 1 2 , 314, 318 Kater, 92, 156, 354 Krusenstern, 283, 396, 403, 405, 411 Parry, 282, 284, 402, 426, 452 Victoria, 467-69 Walker, 96, 320, 350, 351, 379, 381, 385-87, 399, 404, 432, 453, 474, 475 Wartender, 68, 221, 327, 485 York, 60, 62, 94, 221, 240, 300, 326, 327, 330, 398, 485 Carcass (ship), see Ships and boats Chipewyan, Fort, see Forts Chipewyan Indians, 262, 264 Clarence, Cape, see Capes Cockburn Peninsula, 1 5 1 , 153, 226

Collinson, Richard, 419, 420, 423, 43739, 446, 451-54, 460, 496, 497, 504 Committee Bay, 141, 307, 372, 397 Confidence, Fort, see Forts Cook, Captain, 20-24, 78, 155» 273 Copper Indians, 175, 177, 256 Coppermine River, 8, 37, 85, 167, 174, 175, 178-81, 185, 187, 188, 191-99, 203, 214, 255, 257, 262, 264, 266, 281, 283, 348, 351, 365, 368, 396, 401-5, 408, 410, 4 1 1 , 494 Cornwallis Island, 94-96, 471, 475 Coronation Gulf (George IV's), 199, 283, 284, 369, 403, 404, 410, 504 Cree Indians, 173, 344 Cresswell, Lieutenant, 432, 438, 441, 445, 447, 449 Cresswell Bay, 236, 240, 301 Croker's Mountains, 68, 77, 88, 89 Crozier, Francis R. M., 147, 219, 242, 385, 389, 466, 470, 472, 476 Cumberland House, 168, 170-73, 176, 182, 253, 256, 401 Cumberland Sound (Strait), 67, 69,75, 84, 1 1 6 D a v i s , John, 5, 6, 69 Davis Strait, 5, 6, 23, 28-31, 36, 43, 44, 69,74, 84, 8 6 , 1 1 5 , 1 2 5 , 219, 299,350, 353, 386 Dealy Island, 440, 443, 444, 447 Dease, P. W., 252, 253, 258, 261, 262, 265, 284, 359-61, 363, 365, 367, 3 7 1 , 372, 387, 405, 410, 450 Dease River, 262, 265, 365, 401, 403 Dease Strait, 196, 4 1 1 , 504 Demarcation Point, 272, 275, 361 Deptford, 23, 41, 56, 86, 124, 155, 219 Disko Island (and Bay), 57, 220, 386, 484 Dobbs, Arthur, 7, 8, 21, 126 Dog-Rib Indians, 256, 263 Dolphin (boat), see Ships and boats Dolphin and Union Strait, 282, 285, 287, 403, 404, 432, 454, 504, 5°5 Dom ville, Dr., 440, 443, 444, 446 Dorothea (ship), see Ships and boats

Œ528]]

INDEX D u d l e y Digges, Cape, see Captes Edinburgh Review, 33, 34, 7 1 , 77 Elizabeth Harbour, 304, 310, 3 1 1 , 325 El win B a y , 227, 326, 327, 330 Enterprise (ship), see Ships and boats Enterprise, Fort, see, Forts Erebus (ship), see Ships and boats Eskimos, j8,60-63, 85,97, m , «33-41, 144,146,147,153,156,174, '78,179, 183, 188-91, 194, 196, 228, 248, 258, 261,262,266-71,274-79,307-10,314, 329,335,346,347,361,363,364,372, 392,393,396,397,402,403,418,424, 425, 442, 458, 4J9, 461, 468-71, 473, 476, 477, 490-94, 496, 499, SOI, 502, 508, 509 F e l i x Harbour, 305, 3 1 1 , 335 Fisher, Alexander, 75, 84, 90, 108, 155 Fitzjames, James, 384,385, 466, 472 Forts Chipewyan, 172, 174, 176, 180, 183,194,256,257, 285,286,361, Confidence, 365, 368, 372, 373, 403, 405, 4ÏO-I2 Enterprise, 180-84, 187, 191, 192, 194, 198, 200, 203, 205, 206, 208-11, 213, 256 Franklin, 264, 265, 267, 276, 28385 Good Hope, 258, 261, 266, 361, 364, 408, 409 Norman, 257, 258, 263, 264, 266 Providence, 175, 177, 178, 181-85, 192, 210-13 Reliance, 344, 345, 349, 371 Resolution, 256, 257, 341, 342, 344, 459 Simpson, 257, 264, 286 Foster, Henry, 219, 225, 242 Fox (ship), see Ships and boats Fox Channel, 6, 121, 125-27, 129, 146, 241, 359, 385 Franklin, Fort, see Forts Franklin, John, 43, 55, 85, 155, 157, 161-214, 217, 218, 220, 247, 252-76, 281, 283-86, 291, 295, 296, 318, 339,

341-43, 346, 35o, 352, 353, 359, 360, 362, 366-68, 377, 378, 380, 383-400, 402, 404, 405, 408, 409, 412, 415-18, 422, 431, 432, 435, 437-39, 450, 45762, 464, 466, 468-77, 481, 485, 486, 495 Franklin, L a d y , 387, 437, 438, 450, 452, 462-64, 466, 473 Franklin Strait, 238, 467 Frozen Strait, 126-30, 132, 354-56 Fury (ship), see Ships and boats F u r y and Hecla Strait, 126, 148-50, 154, 156, 217, 241, 248, 286, 287, 350-52, 354, 373, 396 F u r y Beach, 295, 323, 325-28, 340 G a r r y , Cape, see Capes Gjöa (ship), see Ships and boats G j ö a h a v n , 489, 494, 495, 498, 500 Good Hope, Fort, see Forts Great Bear Lake, 188, 253, 254, 25658, 261, 262, 283, 361, 363, 365, 396, 401, 403, 408 Great Fish River, 175, 340-43, 346, 347,353,365,371,380,381,397,4*5, 416,449,450,458,459,461,463,468, 470, 472, 473, 476, 477 Great Slave Lake, 168, 171, 174-78, 1 8 2 , 1 8 5 , 1 9 7 , 2 1 1 , 2 1 2 , 256,263, 264, 340-43, 345, 347, 361, 459, 460 Greenland, 19, 23-25, 27-31, 35, 36, 45, 53, 56, 57, 63, 87, 220, 388, 397, 465, 484 Griper (ship), see Ships and boats G u l f of Boothia, 91, 141, 156, 307, 372 H a d d i n g t o n , Lord, 379, 384, 385 Hansen, Godfred, 483, 491, 493-98, 503, 505, 509 Hansen, Helmer, 483, 491 Hawaiian Islands, 23, 44, 406, 420-22 Hearne, Samuel, 8, 155, 189, 193, 368 Hecla (ship), see Ships and boats Hecla and Griper B a y , 99, 100, 109-11, 440 Hepburn, John, 164, 171, 181, 190, 206-9, 211 Herald (ship), see Ships and boats

Í5 29]]

INDEX Herschel, Cape, see Capes Herschel Island, 271, 272, 275, 506, 507 Hobson, W . R., 465, 469, 471, 473 Hood, Robert, 164, 167, 171, 176, 181, 184, 194, 202, 206, 207, 213 Hood's River, 197-99 Hooper, W . H., 84, 93, 105, 219, 225 Hooper Inlet, 147, 149-íi, I53 Hoppner, H . P., 84, 92, m , 134, 219, 224, 22s, 228-30, 233, 235-37, 240 Hudson, Henry, 4, 5 Hudson Bay, 5, 6, 8, 18, 21, 24, 44, 8s, 92,116, 138, 167, 168, 171, 172, 186, 189, 194, 197, 354, 359, 499 Hudson Strait, 6, 121, 122, 124, 125, 135, M » 249, 355 Hudson's Bay Co., 7, 167, 168, 172, 173,175,177,182,183,193,213,252, 253.256,257,262, 274,340,345,357, 359,362,391,392,396,401,404» 409, 417, 425. 457» 459-61, 463 I c y Cape, 31, 90, 95. 1 ' 4 , 267, 272-74, 286, 287, 352, 407, 452 Igloolik (island), 146, 147, 149, 150, 152, 307 Iligliuk (Eskimo), 139-41, 144, 146 Indians, see their tribal names Intrepid (ship), see Ships and boats Investigator (ship), see Ships and boats Isabella (ship), see Ships and boats Isabella, Cape, see Capes Isle à la Crosse Lake, 173, 174, 176 J o h n (ship), see Ships and boats Jones Sound, see Alderman Jones Sound K a m c h a t k a , 20, 21, 44, 122, 406 Kater, Cape, see Capes Kellett, Henry, 406, 408, 409,420, 423, 438-41, 443-47. 45 1 Kendall, E. N., 252, 254, 257, 265, 277 Kendall River, 365, 366, 411 Kent Peninsula, 196, 367,368,373 King, Richard, 341, 344-47. 380-82, 393-95. 397. 415. 416, 461, 462

King William IV Island (Land), 349, 370. 371, 377. 458, 468-70, 477, 486, 494, 503 Kotzebue Sound, 218, 220, 247, 254, 263, 272, 274, 406-8, 422 Krusenstern, Cape, see Capes Krusenstern (ship), see Ships and boats L a k e Athabasca, see Athabasca Lake Lancaster Sound, 6, 66-68, 70-76, 84, 85, 87, 88, 90, 96, 99, 112, 115, 116, 121, 129, 217, 218, 221-23, 248, 299, 327,377.378,386,388,392,395,397, 398,434,436,441,457,465,474,484, 485 Liddon, Matthew, 84, 88, 93, 111 Liddon Island, 149, 150, 152 Lindström, A. H., 483, 500, 501 Lion (boat), see Ships and boats Loucheux Indians, 258, 266, 270, 361 Lund, Anton, 483, 489 Lutwidge, Skeffington, 10, 12 Lyon, G. F., 122,130-32,137,138,141, 142, 149, 150, 153, 154. 247-52, 381 Lyon Inlet, 132,134,139,140,149, 248 M c C l i n t o c k , F. L., 302, 377,397,435, 439, 440, 465-73, 477, 485, 486 McClure, Robert J. L. M., 378, 397, 419-54, 457, 465, 477 McClure Strait, 81, 113, 121, 241, 285, 386, 475 Mackenzie, Alexander, 168, 259, 276 Mackenzie Ri ver, 31,37, 174, 188, 197, 254-59, 261, 263, 266, 267, 271-77, 286, 287,313,339,350,360,361,364, 391,396,402,406,407,409,422,425. 436, 454, 506 M'Vicar, agent of Hudson's Bay Co., 175, 253, 256, 264 Magdalena Bay, 45, 48, 49 Magnetic Pole, 91,97,317-20,334,354, 483, 486, 489, 491, 493, 500, 504 M a t t y Island, 312, 487, 492, 493, 503 Melville, Lord, 28, 29, 36, 60, 164,166, 219, 242, 291, 293 Melville Island, 98, 100, 103, 108, 109, 113, 116, 127, 135, 248, 285, 352,

Ü5 3 °B

INDEX

378-80, 386, 389, 400, 408, 418, 422, 424, 426, 430, 433-35, 438-40. 444. 4Í3 Melville Peninsula, 126, 130 Melville Sound (on northern coast of America), 195, 196, 198, 199 Melville Sound (west of Barrow Strait) 96, 195, 427, 428, 430-33, 453. 475 Mercy Bay, 435, 436, 441, 443-45 Michel (Iroquois Indian), 206-9 Middle Ice, 58, 87, 220, 221, 388, 397, 484 Middleton, Captain, 7, 126, 127, 129, 155, 197 Moore, T. E. L., 406, 408, 422 Moose-Deer Island, 177,182,183, 213, 256 Nautilus (ship), see Ships and boats Navy Board Inlet, 89, 222, 330 Nelson Head, 426, 433, 452, 453, 505 New Albion (California), 20, 21, 44 Nias, Joseph, 84, 108 Norman, Fort, see Forts North Devon, 95, 96 North Georgia Gaiette and Winter Chronicle, 104-6 North Pole, 5, 10, 11,14-19, 24, 26, 27, 31-34,36,42.45.46, 71. 81, 242, 291, 423 North Somerset, 393, 395, 396, 399 North-West Co., 167, 168, 171, 17375. 177, 178, 192, 262 Northwest Passage, 3-5, 8, 25-27, 3133, 35, 37. 56, 66, 71, 73, 85, 117, 124, 197, 214, 217, 241, 286, 291, 292, 297, 334, 339, 349, 360, 378, 379, 381, 397, 415, 419, 424, 427, 431, 444, 449-51, 457, 462, 481, 482, 502, 504, 506, 510

305-7, 318, 333, 334, 339, 34», 349, 351, 352, 355, 378-92, 395, 398, 404, 418, 420, 430, 431, 434, 440, 451 Parry, Cape, see Capes Peel Sound, 95, 121,350, 353,467,474, 475, 486 Phipps, C. J., 10-14, 19, 27, 48 Pickersgill, Richard, 23, 24 Pim, Lieutenant, 440, 44I, 443 Plover (ship), see Ships and boats Point Barrow, 281, 362-65, 371, 407, 420, 424, 438, 452, 509 Point Lake, 181,186, 187, 200,202, 203 Point Ogle, 348, 371, 458, 460 Point Separation, 276, 281, 284 Point Turnagain, 196, 199, 217, 248, 273, 286, 297, 306, 313, 314, 349-51, 354, 361, 367, 387, 411 Polar Sea (Arctic Ocean), 8, 9, 16, 31, 33, 35, 63, 65, 66, 73, 78, 85, 90, 92, 94, 116, 132, 133, 140, 146, 152-54, 156, 161, 164, 168, 174-76, 191-94, 198,199, 213, 227, 247, 252, 254, 256, 260, 261, 266, 291,312,340,348,351, 354, 361, 380-82, 391-93, 396, 402, 404,415,419,424,433,454,465,481, 483 Port Bowen, 93, 223, 226, 239 Port Leopold, 398-400, 422, 445, 493 Prince Leopold Islands, 91, 93, 227 Prince of Wales Strait, 426, 431, 433, 434, 451-53 Prince Regent Inlet, 91, 92, 94, 97, 1 2 1 , 1 4 1 , 1 5 5 , 1 5 6 , 217, 218, 221, 222, 227, 238, 240, 241, 291, 295, 297,300, 306,326,327,330,333,339,340,347, 349,354,367,372, 381, 391,396,397, 399, 445, 467 Providence, Fort, see Forts Pullen, W. J . S., 407-10, 424, 439, 485

O'Reilly, Bernard, 45, 46, 71

Quarterly Review, 29, 33. 70, 77

Palmer, Charles, 84, 150, 151 Parry, W. E., 42, 57, 61, 64, 68, 74, 7678, 81-117, I2I-J7, 161, 167, 198, 213, 217-43, 247, 248, 252, 264, 274, 282, 286, 287, 291,292, 295, 297, 299,

Racehorse (ship), see Ships and boats Rae, John, 126,391, 396,401, 402,40412, 426, 449, 454, 457-464, 469, 473, 486, 496, 497 Rae Isthmus, 126, 248, 397, 457

[[53l]]

INDEX Rae Strait, 370, 489 Reid, Andrew, 84, 108, i n , 150, 152 Reliance (boat), see Ships and boats Reliance, Fort, see Forts Repulse Bay, 92, 1 1 6 , 1 2 1 , 122, 126-

30, 139, 197, 198, 241, 248, 250, 307, 308, 351. 3S3-SS. 372, 396, 397, 457» 486

Saskatchewan River,

Richardson, John, 164-67, 171-73, 176,

181, 187, 196, 202, 204-12, 2JJ, 257, 262-67, 276-87, 350-S2, 359, 360, 367, 368, 389-96, 400-402, 405, 406, 418

Ristvedt, Peder, 483, 490, 4 9 1 ,

252, 339, 384, 408, 493-

95, 498, 501 Rocky Mountains, 1 7 1 , 257, 267, 271 Roe's Welcome, 7 , 92, 1 1 6 , 1 2 1 , 122,

126, 128, 129, 250, 354, 494 Ross, James C . , 42, 7 6 , 84, 9 1 , 93, 105,

131, !32, 140, 219, 226, 242, 308, 309, 3", 317-20, 325, 326, 332, 334-36, 340, 348, 351, 352, 372, 378, 382-85, 389-91, 395, 401, 404-6, 408, 416, 418, 419, 467-69, 471, 472

170,

171,

Scoresby, William, 26, 28, 34, 3 5 , 3 7 , 164 Sherer, Joseph, 132, 133, 219, 226, 237 Ships and boats

Resolute (ship), see Ships and boats Resolution, Fort, see Forts Return Reef, 2 7 3 , 362 Richards, Charles, 1 4 7 , 1 5 1 , 2 1 9 Richards B a y , 1 4 7 , 150, 151

177, 254, 341, 387, 416,

168,

173, 256, 340, 396

296, 330, 370, 397432,

Alexander, 41, 42, 63, 64, 67-69, 73-75, 77, 82, 83 Blossom, 247, 274 Carcass, 10, 11 Dolphin, 265, 283 Dorothea, 41-43, 46, 48-51, 53-56, 164 Enterprise, 397,398,418,419,421, 422, 438, 452, 453 Erebus, 379, 385, 386, 388, 418, 424, 450, 462, 471, 472, 475, 476, 485, 486 Fox, 464, 465, 467-69, 473 Fury, 81, 122-24, 131, 137, 143. 145, 148, 153-55, 219, 224, 225, 229-40, 260, 295, 297, 300, 301, 326, 328, 341 Gjôa, 483-89, 493, 494, 497-500, 502-4, 506, 508, 509 Griper, 81, 82, 84, 86, 88-90, 92, 93, 95, 96, 98, 112, 113, 122, 248-52 Hecla, 81, 82, 84, 86, 88-92,95,98, IO7, II3, 115, 122-24, I3I, I37, 138, 143, HS, 1 5 3 , 1 5 4 , 2 1 8 , 2 1 9 ,

Ross, John, 37, 42-44, 57-78, 82, 83,

85, 86, 88, 115, 117, 237, 239, 291336, 339-4 1 , 345, 349, 35·-53, 37b 372, 378, 382, 383, 389, 390, 397, 417, 447, 468, 494 Royal Society (and Council of the), 9,

io, 14, 16, 20, 26, 28, 29, 34-36, 82, 213, 242, 378-80 Sabine, Edward, 4 1 , 67, 7 2 , 7 3 , 7 5 - 7 7 ,

84, 90, 92, 93, 97, 104, 108, 109, 378, 380, 389-91, 396 Sacheuse, John, 5 7 , 58, 60, 61 Saint-Germain, Pierre, 1 7 7 , 184, 195,

201, 202, 205 Sandwich, Earl of, 9, 20 Œ532I

222, 224, 225, 229-37, 239, 240, 242, 248, 260 Herald, 406, 407, 420, 422, 423, 439, 443 Intrepid, 435, 439,440,447,448 Investigator, 397, 400, 418, 419, 421-26, 428, 429, 432-34, 436, 438, 441, 444-49, 475 Isabella, 41, 42, 57, 62, 63, 68, 69, 73, 75-77, 83, 296, 331 John, 295, 296, 298, 299, 328 Krusenstern, 295, 297, 303, 317 Lion

(Franklin's boat), 264, 2 6 5 ,

268 Nautilus, 124, 125 Plover, 406-8, 420, 422

INDEX Racehorse-, io Reliance, 264, 265 Resolute, 435, 439, 44°, 443, 444, 4 4 7 , 448

Snap, 248, 249 Terror, 3 5 4 , 3 5 6 - 5 8 , 388,

418,

419,

3 7 9 , 3 8 5 , 386, 450,

U n i o n (boat), see Ships and boats V i c t o r i a , Cape, see Capes Victoria Island (Wollaston Land), 282-

460,

85, 3 6 8 , 3 6 9 , 3 7 3 , 3 8 7 , 3 9 6 , 4 0 4 , 4 0 5 ,

4 6 2 , 4 7 1 , 4 7 2 , 4 7 5 , 4 7 6 , 4 8 5 , 486

4 1 0 , 4 1 1 , 4 2 6 , 4 3 2 , 4 5 3 , 454, 4 9 4 , 4 9 7

Trent,

424,

T h o m e , Robert, 5, 9 Trent (ship), see Ships and boats

4 1 - 4 3 , 4 6 - 5 0 , 5 2 - 5 6 , 85, 164,

167, 387

Union, 265, 279, 283 Victory, 316,

295-306, 309, 311, 314, 317,

322,

325,

329,

332,

3 4 ° , 3 7 0 , 3 9 9 , 4 4 7 , 4 6 7 , 468

Walnut-Shell,

254, 283

Simpson, Fort, see Forts Simpson, George, 263, 360, 365, 391, 459

Simpson Strait, 371, 477, 489, 495, 501 Simpson, Thomas, 3 5 9 - 7 3 , 380, 3 8 7 ,

Victoria Strait, 377, 450, 454, 495, 496 Victory (ship), see Ships and boats Victory Point, 3 1 4 , 4 7 1 - 7 6 W a g e r River,

7 , 8, 1 2 2 , 1 2 8 , 140, 168,

186, 248, 250, 3 5 1 , 3 5 3 - 5 5 , 3 6 5 , 3 7 2

Walker, Cape, see Capes Walnut-Shell (boat), see Ships and boats Warrender, Cape, see Capes Wellington Channel, 94, 95, 385, 386, 392,

395,

3 9 9 , 400, 404, 4 2 2 ,

438,

439, 4 7 ' , 474

Wentzel, Frederick, 177, 178, 181, 182,

396, 405, 4 1 0 , 4 5 0

Smith Sound, 60, 63, 65, 72, 84, 85, 396 Snap (ship), see Ships and boats Somerset House, 3 2 6 - 2 8 , 3 3 0 Southampton Island, 6, 1 1 6 , 1 2 5 - 2 8 ,

185, 1 9 1 , 192, 205, 210, 2 1 2 , 213

Wiik, G. J., 483, 490, 501, 507, 508 Williams, Governor, 168, 174, 183, 186 Winter Harbour, 1 0 0 , 1 0 7 , 1 0 9 , 1 1 1 - 1 4 , 3 8 9 , 3 9 5 , 4 0 5 , 435» 4 3 6 , 4 3 9 - 4 1 , 4 5 3

130, 146, 249, 3 5 5

Spence B a y , 311, 314, 372 Spitzbergen, 11, 12, 17, 18, 27, 29, 30, 34, 45, 48, 50, 5 3 , 8 i , 82, 242, 3 5 2 , 387, 481

Winter Island, 134, 139, I41, 307 Winter Lake, 178, 180, 186 Wollaston L a n d , see Victoria Island Y o r k , Cape, see Capes Y o r k Factory, 168, 169, 172, 176, 213,

Stewart, James, 459 Terror (ship), see Ships and boats Thom, William, 75, 296, 298, 301

2 5 3 , 263, 286, 4 0 1 , 408

Y o u n g , Walter, 23, 24

IS33Ì